Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Buys 523,251 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 143.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 888,309 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 523,251 shares during the quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned approximately 0.11% of Duke Energy worth $95,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,852,731,000 after buying an additional 779,054 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 2.6% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $922,529,000 after purchasing an additional 135,665 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $269,368,000 after acquiring an additional 561,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,537,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on DUK shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $123.87.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $121.31. The stock had a trading volume of 925,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,232,342. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.26 billion, a PE ratio of 21.27, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The company's 50-day moving average is $115.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $92.75 and a 12 month high of $122.50.

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

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. Duke Energy's payout ratio is 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.