OLD Second National Bank of Aurora Sells 179 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

OLD Second National Bank of Aurora cut its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,738 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 179 shares during the quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CKW Financial Group bought a new position in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter worth $28,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth $29,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.5 %

Duke Energy stock opened at $95.93 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $100.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.02, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.24.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on DUK shares. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.