D Orazio & Associates Inc. Has $295,000 Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

D Orazio & Associates Inc. raised its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 69.6% in 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 period. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 101.2% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on DUK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, August 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.85.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $111.54. 385,172 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,050,823. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $88.27 and a one year high of $121.25. The stock has a market cap of $86.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $115.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.07.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

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.