Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Purchases 8,732 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 47.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,013 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,732 shares during the quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC's holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,115,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. PBMares Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.8% during the third quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,886 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,425 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 6,591 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $760,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baron Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on DUK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Duke Energy from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $121.69.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $111.88. The stock had a trading volume of 2,572,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,053,350. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $90.09 and a 1-year high of $121.25. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $114.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy's payout ratio is 76.84%.

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.