Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Sells 2,797 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC cut its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,797 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,733,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth $163,819,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Duke Energy by 155.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 116.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,520,000 after buying an additional 1,111,581 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,852,731,000 after buying an additional 779,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,368,000 after acquiring an additional 561,784 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on DUK shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.87.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $121.65 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $117.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.07. The company has a market cap of $94.52 billion, a PE ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $96.68 and a 12-month high of $125.27.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.