MQS Management LLC Invests $482,000 in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 4,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $482,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $728,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 17.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,663,000 after buying an additional 2,061 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 10.8% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 7,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $874,000 after buying an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 22.8% during the first quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 46.2% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 11,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,394,000 after buying an additional 3,611 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total transaction of $832,542.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,768,397.72. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total transaction of $248,760.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,438,843.04. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on DUK shares. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $143.00 price objective on the stock. BTIG Research raised shares of Duke Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Cowen started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $134.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.36.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $127.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.44. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $123.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.47. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $105.20 and a 12 month high of $130.03.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $7.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. Duke Energy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.170-6.420 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $1.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 69.27%.

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.