Meridian Wealth Management LLC Sells 23,505 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Key Points

• Meridian Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. by 11.7% during the first quarter, selling 23,505 shares and ending up with 177,850 shares valued at approximately $5.07 million.
• Several large investors have recently adjusted their holdings in Kinder Morgan, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increasing its position by 37.5% and Assenagon Asset Management S.A. growing its holdings by 212.5% within the same timeframe.
• Kinder Morgan announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2925 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 4.4%, while reporting strong financial performance with a quarterly revenue of $4.04 billion, surpassing analyst estimates.

Meridian Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 11.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 177,850 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 23,505 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $5,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 204,148,872 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $5,824,367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,302,794 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 20,942,841 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $573,834,000 after buying an additional 1,608,499 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 37.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 20,281,385 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $578,628,000 after buying an additional 5,529,065 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 2.0% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 15,002,375 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $428,018,000 after buying an additional 290,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP lifted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 5.4% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 10,786,581 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $307,741,000 after buying an additional 553,395 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Sital K. Mody sold 45,549 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total value of $1,273,550.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Amy W. Chronis acquired 2,759 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $27.21 per share, with a total value of $75,072.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 34,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at $945,928.44. This trade represents a 8.62% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 139,842 shares of company stock valued at $3,896,180. Insiders own 12.73% of the company's stock.

Kinder Morgan Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE:KMI traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $26.86. The stock had a trading volume of 14,967,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,661,724. The business's 50 day moving average is $27.80 and its 200 day moving average is $27.38. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.56 and a fifty-two week high of $31.48. The stock has a market cap of $59.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.02, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 17.06%. The firm had revenue of $4.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on KMI. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Cowen began coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Kinder Morgan from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $31.20.

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.