Xponance Inc. Sells 8,103 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Xponance Inc. lowered its position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 6.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,103 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $14,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,301,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,442,269,000 after purchasing an additional 584,382 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,684,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,205,070,000 after buying an additional 319,001 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11,417.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,691,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,025,244,000 after acquiring an additional 34,906 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 3.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,338,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $747,942,000 after acquiring an additional 216,541 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Duke Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting Duke Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Nuclear/ratings lift: analysts and commentators are highlighting gains in Duke’s nuclear positioning and a positive reframing of its nuclear strategy, which supports capacity reliability and long‑term earnings visibility. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $139 (maintained Equal Weight), signalling modest analyst upside that can prompt buying. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Policy/revenue angle: Duke’s CEO publicly backed the administration’s push to make data centers “pay their fair share,” which could translate into higher utility revenues from large AI/data workloads over time. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Clean‑energy rollout: company expansion of solar, battery storage, microgrids and virtual power‑plant incentives supports future growth, resilience and regulatory goodwill. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Relative performance context: Duke has slightly underperformed peers recently, but analysts remain moderately optimistic — useful context for positioning but not an immediate catalyst. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Inclusion in dividend/utility stock roundups raises investor interest (income appeal) but is not an immediate earnings driver. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: filings show senior executives (including SVP Regis T. Repko) sold shares recently; recurring insider reductions can spook investors even if sales are small. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Customer/billing issues: Greater Cincinnati customers reported unexpectedly higher bills tied to a recent billing issue (and a $14M error reported elsewhere), raising near‑term regulatory and reputational risk. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/cost‑recovery change: Duke will replace a ‘gas cost recovery’ charge with a ‘standard service offer’ in at least one territory — could change how fuel costs are passed through and affect short‑term cash flows. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Rising short interest: short interest has increased meaningfully in February, which raises downside pressure and potential volatility around upcoming catalysts. Read More.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 6,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.67, for a total transaction of $868,156.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 22,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,809,633.69. This represents a 23.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Regis T. Repko sold 962 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.86, for a total transaction of $123,001.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 3,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $498,142.56. This trade represents a 19.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DUK. Mizuho set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Duke Energy from $141.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Duke Energy from $135.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $125.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.75.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $130.79 on Friday. Duke Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $111.22 and a 1-year high of $131.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market cap of $101.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $121.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.10.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.01. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 9.66%. The company had revenue of $7.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a $1.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.41%.

About Duke Energy

Duke Energy Corporation is a U.S.-based electric power holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company’s core business is the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Duke Energy operates a mix of regulated electric utilities and non-regulated energy businesses, providing essential energy infrastructure and services across multiple states.

Its operating activities include owning and operating generation assets across a portfolio that encompasses nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and an expanding array of renewable resources, as well as battery storage and grid modernization projects.