Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Has $1.46 Million Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC cut its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 9.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,686 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,306 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 69.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 101.2% in the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Scotiabank raised 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.85.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $111.27 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $115.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $109.07. The company has a market cap of $85.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $88.27 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio 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.