Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 23.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,605 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Regal Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 3.6% during the third quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 5.0% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in shares of ONEOK by 0.8% in the second quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 21,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,335,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. lifted 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 valued at $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in ONEOK by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on OKE shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. US Capital Advisors cut ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. UBS Group upped their price objective on ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on ONEOK from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on ONEOK from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $81.73.

Insider Activity at ONEOK

In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith purchased 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $75.25 per share, with a total value of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

ONEOK Stock Performance

OKE opened at $79.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $46.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.41, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.65. ONEOK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.91 and a 1-year high of $80.81. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $0.99 per share. This is an increase from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 29th. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.95%. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.35%.

ONEOK declared that its board has approved 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 reacquire up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.