ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its stake in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE - Free Report) by 7.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 220,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 17,298 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings in ONEOK were worth $21,465,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HM Payson & Co. grew its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 1,764 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of ONEOK by 1.6% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 7,132 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $650,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co raised its stake in shares of ONEOK by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 10,067 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $917,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 13,623 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in ONEOK by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 11,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $935,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on OKE. Mizuho raised ONEOK to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of ONEOK from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $85.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut ONEOK from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $107.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on ONEOK in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.00.

ONEOK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE OKE traded up $2.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $100.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,588,979 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,836,940. The firm has a market cap of $58.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.94, a P/E/G ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 1.69. ONEOK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.05 and a 1-year high of $118.07. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $103.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.81.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.81 billion. ONEOK had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 16.84%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ONEOK, Inc. will post 5.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $0.99 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. ONEOK's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.85%.

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.