Partners Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 2,546 Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Partners Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,546 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,016,846,000 after purchasing an additional 442,302 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $781,500,000 after buying an additional 6,719,398 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $264,111,000 after acquiring an additional 6,500 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter worth $2,537,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 155.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $201,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,138,979 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank upped their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $121.62.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.3 %

Duke Energy stock traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $115.86. The stock had a trading volume of 2,731,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,347,902. The company has a market capitalization of $89.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $90.09 and a one year high of $121.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $110.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.00.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. On average, analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 73.20%.

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.