Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Stock Holdings Increased by First Western Trust Bank

First Western Trust Bank lifted its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 30.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 849 shares during the quarter. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $349,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, AJOVista LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $67,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on DUK. Scotiabank cut their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.31.

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 directly 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 can be accessed through this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:DUK traded up $0.63 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $103.01. 2,995,473 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,035,242. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $103.05. The firm has a market cap of $79.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $96.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.42.

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