Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Stake Reduced by Paradigm Financial Partners LLC

Paradigm Financial Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,725 shares during the quarter. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,002,157 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 9,164.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $95,031,000 after buying an additional 968,723 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Duke Energy by 242.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,044,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $101,348,000 after purchasing an additional 739,112 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,205,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $635,952,000 after buying an additional 715,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 273.2% during the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 766,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,635,000 after purchasing an additional 561,000 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on 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. Mizuho lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK stock traded down $1.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $97.71. 1,994,792 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,375,920. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $75.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $83.06 and a 52-week high of $100.13. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $94.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.77.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The business’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

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.