Wellington Management Group LLP Reduces Stock Position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its position in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 4.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,673 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,904 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $2,707,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in ONEOK in the third quarter worth about $25,000. First Command Bank raised its stake in ONEOK by 401.0% in the second quarter. First Command Bank now owns 491 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in ONEOK by 97.7% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in ONEOK in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in ONEOK in the first quarter worth about $30,000. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on OKE shares. 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 shares of ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Wolfe Research raised shares of ONEOK from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of ONEOK from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith bought 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the director now owns 2,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

ONEOK Price Performance

Shares of OKE opened at $79.59 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $73.14 and a 200 day moving average of $69.42. ONEOK, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.91 and a twelve month high of $80.22.

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

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 30th were issued a $0.99 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 29th. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.98%. This is a boost from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.35%.

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

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.