Private Advisor Group LLC Purchases 1,748 Shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,078 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,748 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $4,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in OKE. Regal Investment Advisors LLC increased 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 last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in ONEOK by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,386 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in ONEOK by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its stake in ONEOK by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of ONEOK by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 70,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,477,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ONEOK Stock Performance

ONEOK stock opened at $80.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $78.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.22. The company has a market capitalization of $46.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.64. ONEOK, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.91 and a 12-month high of $81.81.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. ONEOK had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 12.54%. The company had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.34 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 17th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the utilities provider to buy up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a $0.99 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.95%. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.09%.

Insider Transactions at ONEOK

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

OKE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Mizuho boosted their target price on 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 raised shares of ONEOK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of ONEOK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ONEOK has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.58.

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.