Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,533 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $7,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,716,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,934,580,000 after buying an additional 1,154,783 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 1.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,684,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,205,070,000 after acquiring an additional 319,001 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 11,417.7% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,668,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,084,917,000 after acquiring an additional 17,515,383 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Duke Energy by 0.4% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,691,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,025,244,000 after purchasing an additional 34,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,338,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $747,942,000 after purchasing an additional 216,541 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Robert Alexander Glenn sold 8,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,407,234.60. The trade was a 41.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $138.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 8th. BTIG Research raised shares of Duke Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.50.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $117.46 on Tuesday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $121.20 and a 200 day moving average of $121.28. The company has a market capitalization of $91.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.49. Duke Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $105.20 and a fifty-two week high of $130.03.

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

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $1.065 per share. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Duke Energy Profile

Duke Energy Corporation is a U.S.-based electric power holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company’s core business is the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Duke Energy operates a mix of regulated electric utilities and non-regulated energy businesses, providing essential energy infrastructure and services across multiple states.

Its operating activities include owning and operating generation assets across a portfolio that encompasses nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and an expanding array of renewable resources, as well as battery storage and grid modernization projects.