Wealthfront Advisers LLC Reduces Position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. $KMI

Wealthfront Advisers LLC trimmed its stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 6.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 401,450 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 29,183 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $11,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in KMI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 207,219,481 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,092,253,000 after purchasing an additional 3,070,609 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,848,863 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,518,195,000 after buying an additional 599,152 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,162,802,000. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd boosted its position in Kinder Morgan by 3.1% during the second quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 22,635,179 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $665,474,000 after acquiring an additional 670,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Kinder Morgan by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 21,949,329 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $645,310,000 after acquiring an additional 603,197 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KMI. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kinder Morgan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO David Patrick Michels sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 139,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,182,840. This represents a 12.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William A. Smith bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $29.75 per share, with a total value of $89,250.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 31,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $924,838.25. This represents a 10.68% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 38,498 shares of company stock valued at $1,126,515. Company insiders own 12.73% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:KMI opened at $31.03 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.65, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.70. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.94 and a 1 year high of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.64.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.02. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 18.04% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The firm had revenue of $4.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. Kinder Morgan’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.2925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is presently 85.40%.

Kinder Morgan Company Profile

Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) is a large energy infrastructure company that owns and operates an extensive network of pipelines and terminals across North America. Its core activities center on the transportation, storage and handling of energy products, including natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, refined petroleum products and carbon dioxide. The company’s assets include long-haul and gathering pipelines, storage facilities, and multi-modal terminals that serve producers, refiners, utilities and industrial customers.

Kinder Morgan’s operations deliver midstream services such as pipeline transportation, terminaling, storage and related logistics and maintenance.