Oak Harvest Investment Services Grows Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Oak Harvest Investment Services increased its stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 70.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 103,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 42,731 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy makes up 1.5% of Oak Harvest Investment Services’ portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Oak Harvest Investment Services’ holdings in Duke Energy were worth $12,196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,562,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,094,327,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676,061 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,684,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,205,070,000 after buying an additional 319,001 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 17,880.0% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,249,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,250,133,000 after acquiring an additional 10,192,503 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.9% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,921,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,088,158,000 after purchasing an additional 418,014 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,656,244 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,055,087,000 after buying an additional 93,699 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total transaction of $248,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,438,843.04. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DUK. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Duke Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Scotiabank set a $137.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $134.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Duke Energy in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $143.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.00.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK stock opened at $123.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $96.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $105.20 and a 12 month high of $130.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $124.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.51 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a $1.065 dividend. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 66.98%.

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.