Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV Cuts Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV decreased its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 77.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,115 shares during the quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $281,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 100,433.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,846,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $808,123,000 after acquiring an additional 7,838,811 shares in the last quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 8,722.3% in the second quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,127,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $112,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,053 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,018,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,031,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037,012 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,030,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 9,164.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $95,031,000 after purchasing an additional 968,723 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on DUK. KeyCorp upped their target price on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America upped their target price on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.17.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE DUK traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $94.96. 638,539 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,975,490. The business’s 50 day moving average is $94.00 and its 200-day moving average is $93.22. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $100.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The business had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Company 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.