Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Shares Sold by Brown Advisory Inc.

Brown Advisory Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,004,855 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 9,569 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.'s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $28,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMI. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter worth $308,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Kinder Morgan by 70.4% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 7,351 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 3,038 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,176,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 419,050 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $11,482,000 after purchasing an additional 10,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 289,877 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $7,942,000 after purchasing an additional 18,997 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kinder Morgan Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of KMI traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.85. The company had a trading volume of 11,279,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,960,972. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.68 and a fifty-two week high of $31.48. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.58. The stock has a market cap of $61.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.02 billion. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 16.67%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This is an increase from Kinder Morgan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio is 100.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on KMI. Cowen began coverage on Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $32.00 price target (up from $31.00) on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kinder Morgan news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.26, for a total transaction of $508,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 771,652 shares in the company, valued at $21,806,885.52. The trade was a 2.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 12.73% of the company's stock.

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.