Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Acquires 29,701 Shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE - Free Report) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,399,791 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 29,701 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.24% of ONEOK worth $98,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of ONEOK by 118,109.3% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,562,603 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,482,363,000 after purchasing an additional 22,543,516 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in ONEOK by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,237,038 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,757,405,000 after buying an additional 5,525,010 shares during the period. Cowa LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 9,775.0% during the first quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 5,324,428 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,761,000 after buying an additional 5,270,510 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of ONEOK by 37.7% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,292,341 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $843,133,000 after acquiring an additional 3,636,660 shares during the period. Finally, Blackstone Inc. grew its stake in shares of ONEOK by 3,478.3% in the third quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 3,578,316 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $226,973,000 after acquiring an additional 3,478,316 shares during the last quarter. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ONEOK Price Performance

Shares of ONEOK stock traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $77.68. 2,647,218 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,044,970. ONEOK, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.91 and a fifty-two week high of $80.81. The company has a market cap of $45.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.65. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.21 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. ONEOK had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 15.04%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the utilities provider to repurchase up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on OKE. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on ONEOK from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Mizuho raised their price objective on ONEOK from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded ONEOK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, US Capital Advisors cut ONEOK from an "overweight" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ONEOK presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $82.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at ONEOK

In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith bought 2,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $75.25 per share, for a total transaction of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $203,175. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

About ONEOK

ONEOK, Inc engages in gathering, processing, fractionation, storage, transportation, and marketing of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the United States. It operates through four segments: Natural Gas Gathering and Processing, Natural Gas Liquids, Natural Gas Pipelines, and Refined Products and Crude.