Stonegate Investment Group LLC Sells 1,397 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC cut its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,397 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE:DUK traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $98.26. The stock had a trading volume of 2,488,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,968,449. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $100.13. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $95.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DUK. Barclays upped 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. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.62.

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.