First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Buys 6,052 Shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 59.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,052 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $1,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ONEOK by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,237,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,757,405,000 after purchasing an additional 5,525,010 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in ONEOK by 37.7% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,292,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $843,133,000 after purchasing an additional 3,636,660 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of ONEOK by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,255,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $650,502,000 after acquiring an additional 889,110 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in ONEOK by 20.3% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,660,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $549,305,000 after buying an additional 1,458,392 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in ONEOK by 65.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,132,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $515,832,000 after purchasing an additional 3,229,046 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Trading Down 0.4 %

OKE stock traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $76.64. 281,255 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,971,944. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $78.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.73 billion, a PE ratio of 17.90, a PEG ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.70. ONEOK, Inc. has a one year low of $55.91 and a one year high of $81.81.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. ONEOK had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The company had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.34 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.17%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.09%.

ONEOK declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 17th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the utilities provider to reacquire up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on OKE. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of ONEOK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of ONEOK from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ONEOK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group increased their price target on ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ONEOK has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith purchased 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were purchased 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 owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,175. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

About ONEOK

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.