Creative Planning Increases Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 9.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 304,434 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 25,937 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning's holdings in Duke Energy were worth $35,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 65.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $205,769,000 after acquiring an additional 813,744 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 9,923.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 769,265 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $77,103,000 after buying an additional 761,590 shares in the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter worth about $36,278,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Duke Energy by 3.2% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,493,340 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,111,521,000 after buying an additional 352,320 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Duke Energy by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,835,047,000 after purchasing an additional 324,289 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK traded down $0.86 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $119.90. 2,703,247 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,053,563. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $115.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.98. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $85.79 and a twelve month high of $121.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The company has a market cap of $92.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The company's revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Duke Energy's payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $138.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $121.85.

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.