ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) Shares Sold by Veracity Capital LLC

Veracity Capital LLC lessened its stake in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 14.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 28,767 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,923 shares during the quarter. ONEOK comprises about 0.9% of Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $2,306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Insight Folios Inc raised its stake in ONEOK by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 102,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,227,000 after purchasing an additional 3,048 shares during the period. Accel Wealth Management raised its stake in ONEOK by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 3,584 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in ONEOK by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 17,552 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,316 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in ONEOK by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,310,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Norden Group LLC raised its stake in ONEOK by 4,460.2% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 134,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,773,000 after purchasing an additional 131,441 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Stock Performance

OKE stock traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $82.80. 1,564,905 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,518,106. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.52 and a 52 week high of $83.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $80.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.33 billion, a PE ratio of 19.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 1.65.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. ONEOK had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The company had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were issued a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 30th. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of ONEOK from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of ONEOK from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of ONEOK from $89.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of ONEOK from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of ONEOK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.50.

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.