Morningstar Investment Management LLC Trims Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Morningstar Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 73.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 59,615 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,590,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter worth $1,046,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 9.2% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 150,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,615,000 after acquiring an additional 12,677 shares during the last quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1,118.3% in the third quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 99,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,308,000 after acquiring an additional 91,295 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 51.9% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 49,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,072,000 after acquiring an additional 16,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 13.4% in the third quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 371,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,942,000 after acquiring an additional 43,925 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, SVP Regis T. Repko sold 962 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.86, for a total value of $123,001.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 3,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $498,142.56. This represents a 19.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Harry K. Sideris sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.37, for a total value of $2,487,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 96,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,952,205.74. This represents a 17.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,462 shares of company stock valued at $3,048,426. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Duke Energy News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy is being viewed as a potential beneficiary of surging power demand from data centers, which could support future generation growth and regulated utility investment opportunities. Why Duke Energy (DUK) Is Becoming a Data Center Power Demand Play
• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs reiterated its bullish view by keeping Duke Energy on its Conviction List and assigning a $132 target, signaling confidence in regulatory progress and the company’s expansion plans. Why Duke Energy (DUK) Is Becoming a Data Center Power Demand Play
• Positive Sentiment: Utility-sector demand tailwinds linked to AI infrastructure are also supporting sentiment toward Duke Energy and other dividend-paying utilities. These 3 Utility Stocks Have Been Paying Dividends for Decades and AI Data Centers Just Made Them More Valuable
• Neutral Sentiment: North Carolina lawmakers moved to require approval for replacement nuclear capacity before Duke can retire coal plants, which could slow the company’s transition plans but may also protect near-term generation reliability and earnings visibility. North Carolina lawmakers just moved to block Duke Energy from closing coal plants until new nuclear is approved to replace every lost megawatt
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley cut its price target on Duke Energy to $132 from $141 while maintaining an Equalweight rating, a modestly softer analyst signal but still above the recent share price. Morgan Stanley adjusts price target on Duke Energy to 132 from 141
• Neutral Sentiment: Other items, including local outage and customer-service updates, appear operational in nature and are unlikely to materially affect the stock. Power restored for Duke Energy customers in Sullivan County

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $125.78 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $98.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.26 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Duke Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $113.39 and a 1 year high of $134.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $128.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.02.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 15.49%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.76 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $1.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on DUK. Barclays increased their target price on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $143.00 to $138.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $139.00 to $138.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $139.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.07.

Duke Energy Company Profile

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.