GAMMA Investing LLC Invests $307,000 in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $307,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,002,157 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,468,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $923,907,000 after buying an additional 492,011 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,918,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $698,923,000 after buying an additional 144,612 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Duke Energy by 1.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,672,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,321,000 after buying an additional 124,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,205,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $635,952,000 after acquiring an additional 715,069 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK stock opened at $98.96 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $76.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $94.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.63. 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 52-week low of $83.06 and a 52-week high of $100.39.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Scotiabank cut their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.62.

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.