Highland Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK)

Highland Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 422 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 14,268.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,663,183 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $202,858,000 after buying an additional 1,651,608 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth $163,819,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 116.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $222,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,581 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 779,054 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 4,838,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $521,322,000 after purchasing an additional 625,008 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $125.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $125.00 to $132.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.94.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:DUK opened at $116.93 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $117.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.05. The company has a market capitalization of $90.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $99.21 and a 52-week high of $125.27.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.40% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 69.32%.

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.