ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Shares Sold by Geneos Wealth Management Inc.

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,905 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $2,812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in shares of ONEOK during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ONEOK by 90.7% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of ONEOK by 97.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ONEOK during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in ONEOK in the first quarter valued at $30,000. 69.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of ONEOK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ONEOK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of ONEOK from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, US Capital Advisors lowered shares of ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.73.

Insider Activity at ONEOK

In related news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith acquired 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $75.25 per share, with a total value of $203,175.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at $203,175. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:OKE traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $79.29. 402,498 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,990,290. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $46.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.65. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.91 and a 52-week high of $80.81. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.33.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.21 by ($0.03). ONEOK had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 15.04%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.99%. This is a positive change from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 29th. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.35%.

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

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.