Ausbil Investment Management Ltd Sells 27,734 Shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Ausbil Investment Management Ltd reduced its position in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 42.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 27,734 shares during the quarter. ONEOK comprises approximately 2.4% of Ausbil Investment Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $3,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of ONEOK by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,480,774 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,593,023,000 after acquiring an additional 661,854 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in ONEOK by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,680,875 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,242,449,000 after buying an additional 138,430 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in ONEOK by 0.3% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,751,172 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $341,844,000 after buying an additional 11,189 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in ONEOK by 9,439.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,230,989 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $294,440,000 after buying an additional 3,197,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its position in ONEOK by 14.8% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 2,149,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $195,545,000 after buying an additional 277,514 shares during the last quarter. 69.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ONEOK Stock Performance

Shares of ONEOK stock opened at $96.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $56.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. ONEOK, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.05 and a 12 month high of $118.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $104.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.97.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.81 billion. ONEOK had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 16.84%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that ONEOK, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.25%. This is a positive change from ONEOK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on OKE shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on ONEOK from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays raised their price target on ONEOK from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America started coverage on ONEOK in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. UBS Group raised their price target on ONEOK from $112.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered ONEOK from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $107.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ONEOK has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.92.

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.