World Investment Advisors Acquires 10,816 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

World Investment Advisors increased its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 121.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,713 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,816 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors' holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth $29,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1,500.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $123.87.

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Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $115.77. 1,604,910 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,332,058. The company has a market cap of $89.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $92.75 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.88.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy 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.