Prudential Financial Inc. Has $46.23 Million Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 26.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 429,117 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 155,590 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.06% of Duke Energy worth $46,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,852,731,000 after buying an additional 779,054 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,016,846,000 after acquiring an additional 442,302 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $922,529,000 after purchasing an additional 135,665 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $269,368,000 after purchasing an additional 561,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,537,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on DUK shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group increased their price target on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $123.87.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.5 %

DUK stock traded up $1.77 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $119.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,941,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,228,407. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $115.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.68. The stock has a market cap of $92.79 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $92.75 and a 52 week high of $121.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.