Farmers Trust Co. Cuts Stock Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Farmers Trust Co. trimmed its position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 21.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,981 shares during the period. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,071,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in Duke Energy by 98.1% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 53.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the first quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Robert Alexander Glenn sold 8,200 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total transaction of $1,015,160.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,407,234.60. The trade was a 41.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $136.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Duke Energy from $138.00 to $136.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Scotiabank set a $137.00 price objective on Duke Energy and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Duke Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, BTIG Research raised shares of Duke Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.06.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK opened at $115.21 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.60 billion, a PE ratio of 18.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $123.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $121.23. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $105.20 and a 52-week high of $130.03.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $8.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

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.