Voleon Capital Management LP Buys Shares of 2,384 Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 2,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 1,500.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 366.7% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. 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. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.87.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $121.32 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $118.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $98.58 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.20%.

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.