Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Decreases Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC decreased its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 9.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 439 shares during the quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 69.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $116.16 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $110.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $102.68. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $118.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.65 billion, a PE ratio of 29.19, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 105.03%.

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.