NFJ Investment Group LLC Reduces Holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

NFJ Investment Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE - Free Report) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 106,944 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 18,974 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC's holdings in ONEOK were worth $10,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in ONEOK in the fourth quarter valued at $539,554,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in ONEOK by 433.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,206,906 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $422,373,000 after purchasing an additional 3,418,207 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ONEOK in the fourth quarter worth about $182,694,000. ClearBridge Investments Ltd acquired a new position in shares of ONEOK during the 4th quarter worth approximately $177,045,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in ONEOK by 445.4% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,526,899 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $153,319,000 after buying an additional 1,246,963 shares during the last quarter. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of ONEOK from $111.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of ONEOK from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wolfe Research raised ONEOK from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Scotiabank cut their target price on ONEOK from $109.00 to $102.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $105.00 to $101.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ONEOK currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $106.42.

ONEOK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:OKE traded up $1.39 on Friday, reaching $86.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,756,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,159,918. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.48 and a 52-week high of $118.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.03, a PEG ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.20. The stock's 50-day moving average is $93.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.11. ONEOK had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 16.84%. The company had revenue of $7 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.18 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that ONEOK, Inc. will post 5.07 EPS for the current year.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is an increase from ONEOK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. ONEOK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.69%.

ONEOK 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.