Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Raises Position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 535,156 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,709 shares during the quarter. ONEOK comprises about 0.8% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $37,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in shares of ONEOK by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 5,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of ONEOK in the third quarter worth about $238,000. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in shares of ONEOK by 47.8% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 14,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $894,000 after purchasing an additional 4,558 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 53.1% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 8,847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 3,070 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in ONEOK by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,755,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $301,631,000 after buying an additional 401,728 shares during the period. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at ONEOK

In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith acquired 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was bought 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 in the company, valued at $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OKE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of ONEOK from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Wolfe Research upgraded ONEOK from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, US Capital Advisors lowered shares of ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, ONEOK currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.58.

ONEOK Price Performance

ONEOK stock traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $78.42. The company had a trading volume of 1,078,147 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,966,795. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.48. ONEOK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.91 and a 12-month high of $81.81. The company has a market capitalization of $45.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.10.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. ONEOK had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 12.54%. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.95 EPS for the current year.

ONEOK announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.05%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.09%.

ONEOK Company 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.