Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC cut its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 35.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,338 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 11,261 shares during the quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $2,016,846,000 after purchasing an additional 442,302 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the third 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 period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $2,537,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Duke Energy by 155.1% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $201,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,138,979 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of DUK traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $112.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,744,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,004,829. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market cap of $86.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $90.09 and a 1-year high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on DUK shares. KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Company 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.