WealthTrust Axiom LLC Sells 493 Shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

WealthTrust Axiom LLC decreased its holdings in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 493 shares during the period. WealthTrust Axiom LLC’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $1,484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in shares of ONEOK during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position in ONEOK by 90.7% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in ONEOK in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in shares of ONEOK by 605.1% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares during the period. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its holdings in ONEOK by 283.5% in the fourth quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith acquired 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $75.25 per share, for a total transaction of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on OKE. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of ONEOK from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of ONEOK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of ONEOK from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.25.

ONEOK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE OKE traded down $1.43 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $79.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,862,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,957,755. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $77.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.81. The firm has a market cap of $46.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 1.65. ONEOK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.91 and a 1-year high of $81.81.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. ONEOK had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 22.57%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the utilities provider to repurchase up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.35%.

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.