ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Shares Purchased by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 87.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,247 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,777 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Regal Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 3.6% in the third quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC boosted its holdings in ONEOK by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 3,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in shares of ONEOK by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 21,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,335,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Monarch Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,094,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its position in shares of ONEOK by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on ONEOK from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. US Capital Advisors lowered shares of ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Mizuho increased their target price 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. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of ONEOK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of ONEOK from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.73.

ONEOK Price Performance

ONEOK stock opened at $77.85 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.91 and a 52-week high of $80.81. The firm has a market cap of $45.44 billion, a PE ratio of 14.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.65. The company’s 50 day moving average is $75.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.72.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.57 billion. ONEOK had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 15.04%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 30th were paid a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 29th. This is a boost from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.35%.

ONEOK announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 17th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the utilities provider to purchase up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at ONEOK

In other news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith bought 2,700 shares of ONEOK stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $75.25 per share, with a total value of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at $203,175. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.