Merit Financial Group LLC Has $524,000 Stock Position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 70.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,092 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in ONEOK during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in ONEOK by 90.7% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in ONEOK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in ONEOK by 605.1% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in ONEOK by 283.5% in the fourth quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith purchased 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,175. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Stock Performance

Shares of OKE stock opened at $78.36 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $45.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.64. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.91 and a 52 week high of $81.81. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.18.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. ONEOK had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 12.54%. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.95 earnings per share for the current year.

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

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OKE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded ONEOK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on ONEOK from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded ONEOK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on ONEOK from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.58.

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.