Welch & Forbes LLC Sells 4,253 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Welch & Forbes LLC cut its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 68,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,253 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $6,658,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 25,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,545,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,691,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK traded up $1.84 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $102.26. 3,801,871 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,018,786. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.37. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $102.36. The firm has a market cap of $78.89 billion, a PE ratio of 28.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America increased their target price on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI upgraded Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.62.

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.