Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Purchased by Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 185,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,382 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $18,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,835,047,000 after acquiring an additional 324,289 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,493,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,111,521,000 after acquiring an additional 352,320 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,113,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $787,328,000 after purchasing an additional 42,782 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Duke Energy by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,351,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $228,193,000 after acquiring an additional 84,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,973,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $190,845,000 after purchasing an additional 31,309 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK opened at $117.31 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The stock has a market cap of $90.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $118.18.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a $1.045 dividend. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 105.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.92.

Duke Energy Company 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.