NEOS Investment Management LLC Purchases 11,200 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 31.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,684 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 11,200 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC's holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,030,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 116.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $222,520,000 after buying an additional 1,111,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 779,054 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on DUK shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $123.87.

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Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK stock traded down $0.63 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $121.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 727,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,231,659. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $92.75 and a fifty-two week high of $122.50. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $115.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The company has a market capitalization of $94.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.24, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio is 73.20%.

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.