abrdn plc Grows Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

abrdn plc grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 72.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 317,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 133,527 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $30,806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. now owns 17,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,700,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 27,481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,667,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $154,000. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, HTLF Bank acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $265,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $98.11 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $94.31 and a 200 day moving average of $93.52. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $100.39. The stock has a market cap of $75.69 billion, a PE ratio of 27.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $7.21 billion during 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%. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DUK. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho upped their target price on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.62.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

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

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.