Alliancebernstein L.P. Reduces Position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 643,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,891 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.11% of ONEOK worth $64,626,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 433.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,206,906 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $422,373,000 after purchasing an additional 3,418,207 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in ONEOK by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 71,355 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,164,000 after buying an additional 11,506 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of ONEOK by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,976,864 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,477,000 after acquiring an additional 32,484 shares during the last quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd purchased a new position in shares of ONEOK during the 4th quarter worth $177,045,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ONEOK in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,144,000. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ONEOK Stock Performance

Shares of OKE stock opened at $80.73 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $97.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.40 billion, a PE ratio of 16.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $76.23 and a 52 week high of $118.07.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.18 billion. ONEOK had a return on equity of 16.84% and a net margin of 14.05%. On average, research analysts predict that ONEOK, Inc. will post 5.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $1.03 dividend. This is a boost from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.10%. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on OKE shares. US Capital Advisors upgraded shares of ONEOK from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research upgraded ONEOK from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Scotiabank cut their target price on ONEOK from $109.00 to $102.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays reduced their target price on ONEOK from $105.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on ONEOK from $111.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.00.

ONEOK 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.