Lincoln National Corp Increases Stake in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Lincoln National Corp lifted its position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 25.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,291 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $1,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in ONEOK by 10.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,237,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,757,405,000 after acquiring an additional 5,525,010 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of ONEOK by 37.7% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,292,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $843,133,000 after buying an additional 3,636,660 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. raised its stake in ONEOK by 3,478.3% in the third quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 3,578,316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $226,973,000 after buying an additional 3,478,316 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in ONEOK by 65.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,132,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $515,832,000 after buying an additional 3,229,046 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in ONEOK by 5,247.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,463,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $173,017,000 after acquiring an additional 2,417,849 shares in the last quarter. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith purchased 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were bought at an average price 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 approximately $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ONEOK Trading Up 1.0 %

ONEOK stock opened at $79.14 on Thursday. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.91 and a 52 week high of $81.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $78.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $46.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.64.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. ONEOK had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.95 EPS for the current year.

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

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

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 is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.00%. ONEOK’s payout ratio is 92.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OKE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho raised their target price on ONEOK from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of ONEOK from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of ONEOK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. US Capital Advisors downgraded ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on ONEOK from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ONEOK has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.58.

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.