Marco Investment Management LLC Sells 150 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Marco Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $4,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 24,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,383,000 after buying an additional 1,964 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $65,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Duke Energy by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,203,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $116,431,000 after buying an additional 16,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 34.6% during the first quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,967 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,157,000 after acquiring an additional 3,074 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on DUK. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.69.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $114.70 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.74. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $89.92 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

Duke Energy Company 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.