ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Shares Sold by Everence Capital Management Inc.

Everence Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,450 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $793,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of OKE. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in ONEOK by 275.5% during the 1st 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. lifted its holdings in ONEOK by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in ONEOK by 500.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 167,226 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,812,000 after buying an additional 139,379 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in ONEOK by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 161,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,422,000 after buying an additional 27,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in ONEOK during the 1st quarter worth about $614,000. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on OKE shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on ONEOK from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research raised ONEOK from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Mizuho boosted their target price on ONEOK from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, US Capital Advisors downgraded ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ONEOK presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $82.25.

Insider Activity

In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith acquired 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was acquired 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 in the company, valued at $203,175. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Stock Performance

OKE opened at $77.68 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.86. The stock has a market cap of $45.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 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 1-year low of $55.91 and a 1-year high of $80.81.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by ($0.03). ONEOK had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 22.57%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share 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 reacquire up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management 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.