Altshuler Shaham Ltd Makes New Investment in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Duke Energy by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,030,865,000 after buying an additional 1,002,157 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,468,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $923,907,000 after purchasing an additional 492,011 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $799,599,000 after purchasing an additional 842,458 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,918,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $698,923,000 after purchasing an additional 144,612 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,205,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $635,952,000 after purchasing an additional 715,069 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DUK. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.31.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE DUK traded up $0.13 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $102.39. 3,497,929 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,033,088. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $102.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $95.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.99 billion, a PE ratio of 28.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

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.