ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Shares Sold by Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC reduced its holdings in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 559 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $3,685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Regal Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of ONEOK by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC boosted 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 worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 5.0% during the third quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 3,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Monarch Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,573 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its position in shares of ONEOK by 27.9% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Price Performance

Shares of OKE traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $78.07. The stock had a trading volume of 2,235,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,987,333. 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 company has a market capitalization of $45.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.96, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $78.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.04. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.91 and a 52 week high of $81.81.

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

ONEOK declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.09%.

Insider Transactions at ONEOK

In related news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith bought 2,700 shares of ONEOK stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was acquired 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 directly owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,175. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on OKE shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on ONEOK from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of ONEOK from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on ONEOK from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.