Donaldson Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC reduced its position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 23,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,539 shares during the quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $1,630,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 21,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,531,000 after acquiring an additional 3,032 shares during the period. ELCO Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 102.3% during the third quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 26,432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 13,367 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 11.4% during the third quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 7,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 1.5% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,780 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,460,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Finally, Insight Folios Inc acquired a new stake in shares of ONEOK during the third quarter worth $4,998,000. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at ONEOK

In other news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith bought 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $75.25 per share, with a total value of $203,175.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,175. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

ONEOK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OKE traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $77.23. 345,386 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,003,434. The stock has a market cap of $45.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. ONEOK, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.91 and a twelve month high of $80.81. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $75.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.72.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.21 by ($0.03). ONEOK had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 22.57%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

ONEOK declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the utilities provider to reacquire up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 30th were paid a $0.99 dividend. This is an increase from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 29th. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.13%. ONEOK’s payout ratio is presently 71.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on OKE shares. UBS Group increased their price target on ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of ONEOK from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ONEOK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of ONEOK from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ONEOK has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.25.

ONEOK Profile

ONEOK, Inc engages in gathering, processing, fractionation, storage, transportation, and marketing of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the United States. It operates through four segments: Natural Gas Gathering and Processing, Natural Gas Liquids, Natural Gas Pipelines, and Refined Products and Crude.