Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV Lowers Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV lessened its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 77.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,115 shares during the quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 100,433.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,846,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $808,123,000 after buying an additional 7,838,811 shares in the last quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 8,722.3% during the second quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,127,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $112,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,053 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Duke Energy by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,018,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,031,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037,012 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Duke Energy by 4.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,030,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 9,164.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $95,031,000 after purchasing an additional 968,723 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.17.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.5 %

Duke Energy stock traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $94.96. 638,539 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,975,490. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.74. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $100.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $94.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.22. The company has a market cap of $73.26 billion, a PE ratio of 26.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Company 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.