Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 317 Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.3% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 136,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,075,000 after purchasing an additional 4,373 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 903 shares during the period. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 25,715 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,270,000 after buying an additional 2,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baystate Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 24.2% in the 3rd quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $160,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Bank of America raised their price objective 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. 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 note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.62.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK traded up $1.84 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $102.26. The company had a trading volume of 3,801,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,018,786. The stock has a market cap of $78.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.81, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $102.36.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The business’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.