Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Shares Sold by Washington Trust Advisors Inc.

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 8.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 203,806 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 18,483 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $5,815,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth about $917,523,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth about $157,804,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 212.5% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,468,235 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $156,009,000 after purchasing an additional 3,718,521 shares in the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 435.0% during the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 4,358,263 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $119,416,000 after purchasing an additional 3,543,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth about $87,729,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.52% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.75, for a total transaction of $517,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 807,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,219,995. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,522,440. 12.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective 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. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $32.00 price target (up previously from $31.00) on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.29.

Kinder Morgan Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE:KMI opened at $28.98 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.38 billion, a PE ratio of 24.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.60 and a 200-day moving average of $27.48. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.47 and a 52 week high of $31.48. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.34. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 16.67%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. Analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.2925 dividend. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. This is a positive change from Kinder Morgan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio is 100.86%.

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.

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