apricus wealth LLC Has $2.16 Million Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

apricus wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 150 shares during the quarter. apricus wealth LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 3,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the period. AlTi Global Inc. acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $212,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 34.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 550,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,160,000 after purchasing an additional 142,346 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 6.0% during the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 37,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,793,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134 shares during the period. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp cut shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $109.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $90.09 and a 12 month high of $121.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $110.31 and a 200-day moving average of $112.15. The company has a market capitalization of $84.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.