ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Stake Lowered by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its stake in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 80.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 142,400 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $2,462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in ONEOK by 275.5% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 2,091 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in ONEOK by 6.6% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in ONEOK by 500.5% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 167,226 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,812,000 after purchasing an additional 139,379 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in ONEOK by 20.7% in the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 161,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,422,000 after purchasing an additional 27,697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC bought a new stake in ONEOK in the first quarter worth $614,000. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith purchased 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $75.25 per share, with a total value of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of OKE opened at $79.63 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.35, a P/E/G ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.90. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.91 and a 52 week high of $80.81.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS 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 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. On average, equities research analysts expect that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

ONEOK declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 17th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the utilities provider to buy up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OKE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of ONEOK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.25.

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.