Fulcrum Equity Management Has $3.16 Million Stake in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Fulcrum Equity Management grew its position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 44,970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 635 shares during the period. ONEOK makes up 3.9% of Fulcrum Equity Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Fulcrum Equity Management’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $3,158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of OKE. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. increased its holdings in ONEOK by 148.9% during the 4th quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 9,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $693,000 after purchasing an additional 5,898 shares in the last quarter. Fruth Investment Management boosted its position in ONEOK by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Fruth Investment Management now owns 22,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,576,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in ONEOK by 400.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $152,000 after buying an additional 1,733 shares during the last quarter. Stillwater Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of ONEOK in the 4th quarter worth $221,000. Finally, Saxon Interests Inc. bought a new position in shares of ONEOK in the 4th quarter worth $370,000. Institutional investors own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on ONEOK from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. US Capital Advisors downgraded ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Citigroup boosted their price target on ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on ONEOK from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $81.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith purchased 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $75.25 per share, for a total transaction of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,175. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

ONEOK Trading Up 0.3 %

OKE stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $78.87. The company had a trading volume of 609,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,055,801. The company has a market cap of $46.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.17, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.67. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.91 and a 52 week high of $80.22. The business has a 50 day moving average of $72.96 and a 200 day moving average of $69.32.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last announced 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 business had revenue of $5.24 billion during 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 quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. This is a boost from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 29th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.02%. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.35%.

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

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.