ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Shares Sold by Howard Financial Services LTD.

Howard Financial Services LTD. reduced its stake in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 329 shares during the quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $1,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Greenline Partners LLC acquired a new position in ONEOK in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in ONEOK in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in ONEOK in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new position in ONEOK in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in ONEOK in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ONEOK Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE OKE opened at $80.59 on Friday. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.48 and a 52-week high of $118.07. The business’s 50 day moving average is $85.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The firm has a market cap of $50.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86, a PEG ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.01.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.24). ONEOK had a return on equity of 16.84% and a net margin of 14.05%. The company had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. Research analysts predict that ONEOK, Inc. will post 5.07 EPS for the current year.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on ONEOK from $110.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded ONEOK from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on ONEOK from $111.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays decreased their price objective on ONEOK from $105.00 to $101.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on ONEOK from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ONEOK currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.69.

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.