Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Shares Sold by Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.

Key Points

• Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. reduced its stake in Kinder Morgan by 1.5%, now holding approximately 1,450,102 shares valued at $41.37 million, while other investors have increased their stakes in the company.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Kinder Morgan, with Barclays at $32.00 and Wells Fargo at $34.00, reflecting a generally positive outlook with seven hold ratings and nine buy ratings.
• Kinder Morgan announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2925 per share, indicating a dividend yield of 4.4% and a payout ratio of 95.90%.

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. cut its stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,450,102 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 21,920 shares during the period. Kinder Morgan accounts for 2.1% of Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Kinder Morgan worth $41,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 14.1% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 6,442,093 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $183,793,000 after acquiring an additional 794,388 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter valued at $377,000. Burney Co. raised its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 133.5% in the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 442,044 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $12,612,000 after acquiring an additional 252,736 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 402.5% in the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 39,393 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,124,000 after acquiring an additional 31,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 389,588 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $10,675,000 after acquiring an additional 56,147 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on KMI shares. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $32.00 target price (up from $31.00) on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Cowen started coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Kinder Morgan from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Sital K. Mody sold 45,549 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total transaction of $1,273,550.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 6,166 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total transaction of $171,414.80. Following the sale, the vice president owned 232,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,450,545.20. The trade was a 2.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 139,842 shares of company stock worth $3,896,180. Company insiders own 12.73% of the company's stock.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

Shares of KMI opened at $26.85 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.56 and a 52-week high of $31.48.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28. The firm had revenue of $4.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.06% and a return on equity of 8.31%. Kinder Morgan's revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $0.2925 dividend. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Kinder Morgan's payout ratio is presently 95.90%.

Kinder Morgan 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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