Vontobel Holding Ltd. Acquires 17,612 Shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 32.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 72,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,612 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $5,084,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of OKE. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in ONEOK in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. First Command Bank increased its holdings in ONEOK by 401.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Command Bank now owns 491 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in ONEOK by 90.7% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in ONEOK in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in ONEOK in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on OKE shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of ONEOK from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of ONEOK from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of ONEOK from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, US Capital Advisors lowered shares of ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.25.

ONEOK Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE OKE opened at $77.68 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.65. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.91 and a 52-week high of $80.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $76.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.86.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. ONEOK had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 15.04%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

ONEOK announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 17th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the utilities provider to reacquire up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at ONEOK

In other news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith purchased 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $75.25 per share, for a total transaction of $203,175.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.