Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC Sells 6,738 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 36,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,738 shares during the quarter. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted 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 worth $2,030,865,000 after buying an additional 1,002,157 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 492,011 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Duke Energy by 1.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,918,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $698,923,000 after purchasing an additional 144,612 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted 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 valued at $656,321,000 after purchasing an additional 124,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,205,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $635,952,000 after buying an additional 715,069 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK stock traded down $0.62 during trading on Thursday, reaching $99.16. The company had a trading volume of 407,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,959,544. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.98. The company has a market cap of $76.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $100.56. 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 (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. 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 report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.62.

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.