Blackstone Inc. Grows Stock Position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Blackstone Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 435.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,358,263 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,543,670 shares during the quarter. Kinder Morgan accounts for about 0.5% of Blackstone Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Blackstone Inc. owned approximately 0.20% of Kinder Morgan worth $119,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 202,846,078 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $5,557,983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469,759 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,759,844 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,414,813,000 after acquiring an additional 1,252,609 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter valued at about $917,523,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 20,942,841 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $573,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608,499 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,734,753 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $376,332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093,242 shares during the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

KMI stock opened at $26.82 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.49 and a 1 year high of $31.48. The company has a market cap of $59.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $26.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.13.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 17.31%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This is a boost from Kinder Morgan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KMI. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price target on Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Barclays upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $29.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 directly owns 220,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,881,148.65. The trade was a 25.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total transaction of $498,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 843,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,369,160.40. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 129,461 shares of company stock valued at $3,506,116 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.73% of the company's stock.

Kinder Morgan Company Profile

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.

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