WealthTrust Axiom LLC Sells 493 Shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

WealthTrust Axiom LLC reduced its position in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 493 shares during the quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $1,484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of ONEOK by 37.7% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,292,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $843,133,000 after acquiring an additional 3,636,660 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of ONEOK by 9.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,255,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $650,502,000 after acquiring an additional 889,110 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of ONEOK by 20.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,660,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $549,305,000 after acquiring an additional 1,458,392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of ONEOK by 65.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,132,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $515,832,000 after acquiring an additional 3,229,046 shares in the last quarter. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OKE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of ONEOK from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, ONEOK presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.25.

Insider Activity at ONEOK

In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith purchased 2,700 shares of ONEOK stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

ONEOK Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE:OKE traded down $1.43 on Tuesday, reaching $79.00. 1,862,880 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,957,755. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 1.65. The company’s 50 day moving average is $77.97 and its 200-day moving average is $71.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. ONEOK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.91 and a 1-year high of $81.81.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. ONEOK had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 22.57%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.35%.

ONEOK announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 17th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the utilities provider to purchase up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.