FourThought Financial Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,386 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 161 shares during the quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of ONEOK by 10.3% in the third 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 during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in ONEOK by 37.7% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,292,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $843,133,000 after acquiring an additional 3,636,660 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. grew its stake in shares of ONEOK by 3,478.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 3,578,316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $226,973,000 after purchasing an additional 3,478,316 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 65.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,132,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $515,832,000 after acquiring an additional 3,229,046 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of ONEOK by 5,247.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,463,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $173,017,000 after buying an additional 2,417,849 shares in the last quarter. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 price of $75.25 per share, with a total value of $203,175.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Trading Up 1.4 %

OKE stock traded up $1.07 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $78.30. The company had a trading volume of 721,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,969,651. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.91 and a 52 week high of $81.81. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $78.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.04. The stock has a market cap of $45.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.64.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.84 billion. ONEOK had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 12.54%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the utilities provider to buy up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is 92.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on OKE shares. Raymond James upped their target price on ONEOK from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of ONEOK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. 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 report on Tuesday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.58.

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.