Duke Energy Corporation $DUK Holdings Raised by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,491,569 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 100,828 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.19% of Duke Energy worth $176,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,562,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,094,327,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676,061 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 17,880.0% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,249,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,250,133,000 after purchasing an additional 10,192,503 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,921,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,088,158,000 after purchasing an additional 418,014 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,656,244 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,055,087,000 after buying an additional 93,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.9% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,153,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $994,496,000 after buying an additional 152,542 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $123.64 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $123.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.83. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $105.20 and a 52 week high of $130.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $96.15 billion, a PE ratio of 20.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.51 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a $1.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total transaction of $248,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,438,843.04. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total transaction of $832,542.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,768,397.72. This trade represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BTIG Research raised Duke Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank set a $137.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Cowen started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.00.

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.