ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Shares Sold by Wright Investors Service Inc.

Wright Investors Service Inc. decreased its holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 28.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,452 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $1,925,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OKE. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ONEOK during the first quarter worth about $25,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ONEOK during the first quarter worth $26,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ONEOK during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of ONEOK in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, American National Bank acquired a new stake in ONEOK during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at ONEOK

In other ONEOK news, Director Pattye L. Moore sold 3,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.01, for a total value of $310,901.79. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Price Performance

NYSE:OKE traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $95.23. 1,861,481 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,774,296. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $89.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.55. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.79 and a 52-week high of $96.05. The company has a market cap of $55.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.12. ONEOK had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 13.41%. The firm had revenue of $4.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ONEOK, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on ONEOK from $89.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $88.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of ONEOK from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $103.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on ONEOK from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on ONEOK from $85.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.38.

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.