Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Decreases Stake in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC cut its stake in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 713,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,404 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned about 0.12% of ONEOK worth $50,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in shares of ONEOK in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 90.7% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ONEOK in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in ONEOK by 605.1% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its stake in shares of ONEOK by 283.5% during the 4th 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. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith acquired 2,700 shares of ONEOK stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 acquisition, 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 is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of OKE stock traded up $0.29 on Friday, hitting $77.24. 2,235,452 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,820,855. ONEOK, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.91 and a twelve month high of $81.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.08 billion, a PE ratio of 17.96, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $78.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.95. 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 (NYSE:OKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.84 billion. ONEOK had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 15.94%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.96 EPS for the current year.

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

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.13%. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OKE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their target price on ONEOK from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Citigroup upped their price target on ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded ONEOK from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of ONEOK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ONEOK currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.58.

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.