Blue Fin Capital Inc. Buys 272 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Blue Fin Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Blue Fin Capital Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of DUK stock opened at $116.47 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $119.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.60. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $99.21 and a 1-year high of $125.27. The company has a market cap of $90.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. 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 (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. The business had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 69.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays upped their target price on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $126.00.

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.