Corient Private Wealth LLC Sells 498 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Corient Private Wealth LLC trimmed its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 319,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 498 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $34,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 1,500.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 366.7% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on DUK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank upped their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.93.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $120.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.17, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $113.15 and its 200 day moving average is $113.52. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $92.75 and a 52 week high of $121.47. 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 (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 73.20%.

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.