Duke Energy Corporation $DUK Shares Sold by Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA reduced its stake in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 76.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 67,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 219,193 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $9,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Basso Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Dorato Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1,111.1% during the fourth quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 68.6% in the fourth quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Duke Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting Duke Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy is being highlighted as a defensive stock in a higher-inflation, higher-rate environment, which can attract income-oriented investors looking for stability and dividends. Buy 4 Defensive Stocks as Inflation Hits Highest Level in 3 Years
• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho reiterated an Outperform rating on Duke Energy, saying it can execute despite near-term regulatory challenges; the firm also maintained a higher price target than the current trading range. Mizuho Says Duke Energy (DUK) Can Execute Despite Near-Term Regulatory Challenges
• Positive Sentiment: Duke Energy’s efforts to harden the grid ahead of hurricane season, including “self-healing” upgrades, could support reliability and reduce outage risk over time. Duke Energy prepares for hurricane season with “self-healing” upgrades
• Neutral Sentiment: The company is also being discussed as a high-dividend blue-chip utility, reinforcing its appeal as a steady income name rather than a growth stock. Is Duke Energy (DUK) One of the Best S&P 500 Stocks to Buy for Dividends?
• Negative Sentiment: North Carolina’s attorney general still says Duke’s revised request for an 11.6% rate hike is too high, keeping regulatory pressure front and center for the stock. Duke Energy cuts proposed NC rate hike to 11.6%, still too high, AG says
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh headlines about a lawsuit over Duke’s solar procurement pause and local service disruptions, including an Asheville outage, add to concerns about operations and public scrutiny. Lawsuit targets Duke Energy solar pause that could raise customer bills Power outage hits downtown Asheville; underground equipment damaged: Duke Energy
• Negative Sentiment: Community pushback in places like Clearwater and Swain County over Duke projects suggests continued local resistance that could slow development or raise costs. Clearwater considers replacing Duke Energy with city-owned electric utility Swain property owners express Duke Needmore route concerns

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the topic of several analyst reports. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $139.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Evercore raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $139.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $143.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $143.00 to $134.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $139.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.33.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK stock opened at $128.35 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $124.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.32. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $113.89 and a 12-month high of $134.49. The firm has a market cap of $100.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $9.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.71 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $1.065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 65.24%.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In related news, CEO Harry K. Sideris sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.37, for a total value of $2,487,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 96,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,952,205.74. This trade represents a 17.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.15, for a total value of $438,025.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 21,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,680,087.25. This represents a 14.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

About Duke Energy

Duke Energy Corporation is a U.S.-based electric power holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company’s core business is the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Duke Energy operates a mix of regulated electric utilities and non-regulated energy businesses, providing essential energy infrastructure and services across multiple states.

Its operating activities include owning and operating generation assets across a portfolio that encompasses nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and an expanding array of renewable resources, as well as battery storage and grid modernization projects.