Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Bought by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,225 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $7,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 43,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,026,000 after purchasing an additional 1,342 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in Duke Energy by 14.6% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 12,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,325,000 after buying an additional 1,530 shares during the period. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $200,000. CCM Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 230.7% during the 3rd quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 67,254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,754,000 after acquiring an additional 46,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.08.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of DUK stock opened at $115.01 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $90.09 and a 1-year high of $121.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.72. The firm has a market cap of $88.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

About Duke Energy

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.