Axa S.A. Buys 240,194 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

AXA S.A. grew its position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 90.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 505,858 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 240,194 shares during the quarter. AXA S.A.'s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $13,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Kinder Morgan by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 303,044 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $8,303,000 after purchasing an additional 15,114 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,291,704 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $50,624,000 after purchasing an additional 71,984 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners raised its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2,507.9% during the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 16,430 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $450,000 after buying an additional 15,800 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,265,044 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $62,062,000 after buying an additional 44,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 39.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,186,207 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $180,833,000 after buying an additional 2,334,273 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kinder Morgan Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:KMI traded up $0.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $27.32. 8,832,253 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,976,597. The firm has a market cap of $60.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.16. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.83 and a 1-year high of $31.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.09%. Research analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.2925 dividend. This is an increase from Kinder Morgan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.28%. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio is presently 100.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total transaction of $2,011,035.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 220,681 shares in the company, valued at $5,881,148.65. This trade represents a 25.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.61, for a total transaction of $478,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 825,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,970,599.72. The trade was a 2.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 129,461 shares of company stock valued at $3,503,776. Company insiders own 12.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on KMI. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Kinder Morgan from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kinder Morgan currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $29.79.

About Kinder Morgan

Kinder Morgan, Inc operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily in North America. The company operates through Natural Gas Pipelines, Products Pipelines, Terminals, and CO2 segments. The Natural Gas Pipelines segment owns and operates interstate and intrastate natural gas pipeline, and storage systems; natural gas gathering systems and natural gas processing and treating facilities; natural gas liquids fractionation facilities and transportation systems; and liquefied natural gas gasification, liquefaction, and storage facilities.