Maple Brown Abbott Ltd Has $96.52 Million Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Maple Brown Abbott Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 994,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 76,200 shares during the period. Duke Energy makes up approximately 9.9% of Maple Brown Abbott Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $96,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 20,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,326,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. First Manhattan Co. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 11,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,227,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 19,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,872,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. grew its position in Duke Energy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 14,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Finally, Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DUK. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America increased their price target on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.17.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.9 %

DUK traded up $1.75 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $94.62. The stock had a trading volume of 1,036,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,996,932. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $100.39. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.21.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion during 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%. Duke Energy’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.