Spartan Planning & Wealth Management Purchases 592 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Spartan Planning & Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 29,600.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 592 shares during the period. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $58,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,030,865,000 after buying an additional 1,002,157 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 9,164.0% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $95,031,000 after acquiring an additional 968,723 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $799,599,000 after acquiring an additional 842,458 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 242.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,044,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $101,348,000 after purchasing an additional 739,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,205,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $635,952,000 after purchasing an additional 715,069 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on DUK. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.75.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total transaction of $173,415.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK opened at $100.80 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market cap of $77.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $104.87.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The company had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $1.025 per share. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 103.02%.

About Duke Energy

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.