Blue Trust Inc. Buys 3,908 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 18.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,772 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,908 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 332.9% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 316 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 100.0% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. 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, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK traded down $1.20 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $111.42. 3,664,052 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,150,521. The firm has a market cap of $86.07 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.09 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

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.