Duke Energy Corporation $DUK Shares Sold by Texas Permanent School Fund Corp

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp decreased its position in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 41.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 39,230 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $6,436,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 11,417.7% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,668,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,084,917,000 after acquiring an additional 17,515,383 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,716,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,934,580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,783 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in Duke Energy by 359.1% during the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,132,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $138,145,000 after purchasing an additional 885,900 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 2,682.0% in the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 895,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $109,242,000 after purchasing an additional 863,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its position in Duke Energy by 131.9% during the 1st quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 1,055,482 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $128,737,000 after purchasing an additional 600,271 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Duke Energy from $136.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. BTIG Research upgraded Duke Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Duke Energy from $138.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 8th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $138.00 to $136.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Cowen began coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Robert Alexander Glenn sold 8,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total transaction of $1,015,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,407,234.60. The trade was a 41.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK stock opened at $115.60 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $105.20 and a 12-month high of $130.03. The business’s 50 day moving average is $123.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.23. The company has a market capitalization of $89.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.98% and a net margin of 15.76%.The business had revenue of $8.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $1.065 per share. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

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.