Legal & General Group Plc cut its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 19.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,940,499 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 1,399,167 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.77% of Duke Energy worth $640,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth $2,537,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth $163,819,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of 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. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,111,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,852,731,000 after purchasing an additional 779,054 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Duke Energy Stock Performance
DUK stock traded up $1.97 on Friday, reaching $118.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,054,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,373,922. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $92.75 and a 52 week high of $125.27. The company has a market capitalization of $92.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $116.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $113.89. 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 (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of analysts recently commented on DUK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $123.87.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Duke Energy
Duke Energy Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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