Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $2.47 Million Investment in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 35,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,472,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 10.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,237,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,757,405,000 after buying an additional 5,525,010 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 118,109.3% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,562,603 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,482,363,000 after buying an additional 22,543,516 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 37.7% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,292,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $843,133,000 after buying an additional 3,636,660 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 9.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,255,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $650,502,000 after buying an additional 889,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 20.3% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,660,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $549,305,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458,392 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE OKE opened at $77.07 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.81. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.91 and a 52-week high of $80.81. The firm has a market cap of $44.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 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.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last announced 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 net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 22.57%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts predict that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity

In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith purchased 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of ONEOK from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. US Capital Advisors cut shares of ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of ONEOK from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of ONEOK from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.25.

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.