Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Sells 5,091 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lessened its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 7.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,091 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $6,271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total transaction of $1,027,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,057,253.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,057,253.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815 over the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $99.81 on Wednesday. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $104.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.03 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.33.

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.