Drake & Associates LLC Has $2.65 Million Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Drake & Associates LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 80.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 22,480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,047 shares during the period. Drake & Associates LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $728,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 4.0% in the first quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 3.7% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 14,354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. RDA Financial Network acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $333,000. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total value of $832,542.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,768,397.72. This trade represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total value of $248,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,438,843.04. The trade was a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $124.38 on Tuesday. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $105.20 and a 12-month high of $127.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $122.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The company has a market cap of $96.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.44.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.04). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%.The company had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $1.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on DUK. Barclays raised their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Scotiabank set a $137.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $141.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $143.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.08.

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.