Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Purchased by OneAscent Financial Services LLC

OneAscent Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 25.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,718 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,566 shares during the quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. United Bank lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 2.7% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 4,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 173,616.7% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 41,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,807,000 after purchasing an additional 41,668 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 581,498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,999,000 after purchasing an additional 74,689 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 96,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at $32,379,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.87.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $120.44 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $92.75 and a 52 week high of $122.50. The firm has a market cap of $93.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.20%.

Duke Energy Profile

Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I), and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest.