Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Grows Holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 40.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,297 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,520 shares during the period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of ONEOK by 28.3% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 59,330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,763,000 after acquiring an additional 13,077 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ONEOK during the third quarter valued at approximately $263,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in ONEOK by 27.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 152,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,654,000 after acquiring an additional 33,157 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in ONEOK by 193.9% in the 3rd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 123,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,823,000 after acquiring an additional 81,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in ONEOK by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ONEOK Price Performance

OKE stock traded up $0.66 during trading on Friday, hitting $80.85. 1,462,768 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,380,782. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.46. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.19 and a 52 week high of $83.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.80, a P/E/G ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 1.64.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.84 billion. ONEOK had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 12.54%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.90%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.09%.

Insider Activity at ONEOK

In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith acquired 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were bought 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on ONEOK from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on ONEOK from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on ONEOK from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.58.

ONEOK Company 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.