Cooper Financial Group Has $1.03 Million Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Cooper Financial Group lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 55.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,603 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,803 shares during the quarter. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,025,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at about $255,000. &PARTNERS raised its stake in Duke Energy by 87.8% in the first quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 13,879 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 6,487 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at about $256,000. MJP Associates Inc. ADV bought a new position in Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at about $295,000. Finally, Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc grew its position in Duke Energy by 3.0% in the first quarter. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc now owns 4,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on DUK shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total value of $1,027,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total transaction of $1,027,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4 shares in the company, valued at $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK stock opened at $99.84 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.27. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $104.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.05 billion, a PE ratio of 25.09, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a $1.025 dividend. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.02%.

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.