Pinebridge Investments L.P. Decreases Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. decreased its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 210,734 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 10,022 shares during the quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P.'s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $22,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $173,000. Invst LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 19.4% in the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 2,583 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $2,012,000. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 23,349 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,677,000 after buying an additional 1,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chelsea Counsel Co. grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 2,701 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $123.87.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK traded down $0.84 on Friday, hitting $119.86. 2,717,155 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,394,967. The firm has a market cap of $93.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $118.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.37. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $97.49 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. On average, research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

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.