Wedbush Securities Inc. Sells 7,954 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Wedbush Securities Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 79,521 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 7,954 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $2,179,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter worth about $917,523,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $157,804,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth approximately $87,729,000. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 11,819,777 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $334,381,000 after acquiring an additional 2,650,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in Kinder Morgan by 223.9% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,465,980 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $94,968,000 after purchasing an additional 2,395,930 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on KMI shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays raised shares of Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on Kinder Morgan in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total transaction of $2,011,035.65. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 220,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,881,148.65. This represents a 25.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total value of $498,600.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 843,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,369,160.40. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 129,461 shares of company stock valued at $3,506,116 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.81% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Trading Down 8.9 %

NYSE KMI opened at $25.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.59, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s fifty day moving average is $27.20 and its 200-day moving average is $26.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.39. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a one year low of $17.61 and a one year high of $31.48.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.01). Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.09%. Equities research analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.2875 dividend. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.29%.

Kinder Morgan Company Profile

Kinder Morgan, Inc operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily in North America. The company operates through Natural Gas Pipelines, Products Pipelines, Terminals, and CO2 segments. The Natural Gas Pipelines segment owns and operates interstate and intrastate natural gas pipeline, and storage systems; natural gas gathering systems and natural gas processing and treating facilities; natural gas liquids fractionation facilities and transportation systems; and liquefied natural gas gasification, liquefaction, and storage facilities.