Essex Financial Services Inc. Cuts Holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Essex Financial Services Inc. reduced its holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE - Free Report) by 32.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,330 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,991 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in ONEOK were worth $1,238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in ONEOK during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $615,000. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of ONEOK by 49.9% in the 4th quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,831 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of ONEOK during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in ONEOK by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 8,599 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $863,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the period. Finally, Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC bought a new position in ONEOK in the fourth quarter worth $574,000. Institutional investors own 69.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on OKE. Mizuho upgraded shares of ONEOK to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of ONEOK from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $107.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of ONEOK from $112.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. US Capital Advisors raised ONEOK from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised ONEOK from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $103.92.

ONEOK Stock Performance

Shares of ONEOK stock traded down $1.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $97.96. 2,813,945 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,202,985. ONEOK, Inc. has a one year low of $69.01 and a one year high of $118.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.70. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $101.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.05.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a boost from ONEOK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. ONEOK's dividend payout ratio is currently 86.19%.

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.