Duke Energy Corporation $DUK Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,946,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 507,514 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.38% of Duke Energy worth $347,677,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 42.2% during the second quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 7,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $878,000 after purchasing an additional 2,210 shares in the last quarter. Westbourne Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $282,000. Resolution Capital Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd now owns 59,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,318,000 after acquiring an additional 4,255 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 88.1% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,861,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $592,934,000 after acquiring an additional 2,276,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 52.8% during the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after acquiring an additional 3,152 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Robert Alexander Glenn sold 8,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total value of $1,015,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,367 shares in the company, valued at $1,407,234.60. This represents a 41.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $143.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Duke Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Monday, December 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.44.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $116.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Duke Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $105.20 and a 1 year high of $130.03. The company has a market cap of $90.59 billion, a PE ratio of 18.32, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $124.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $121.23.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.76% and a return on equity of 9.98%. The business had revenue of $8.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a $1.065 dividend. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Duke Energy 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.