New York State Common Retirement Fund Purchases 81,671 Shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE - Free Report) by 23.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 423,834 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 81,671 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.07% of ONEOK worth $29,762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,237,038 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,757,405,000 after acquiring an additional 5,525,010 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of ONEOK by 37.7% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in ONEOK by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,255,430 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $650,502,000 after purchasing an additional 889,110 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in ONEOK by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,660,013 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $549,305,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458,392 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in ONEOK by 65.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,132,301 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $515,832,000 after purchasing an additional 3,229,046 shares during the period. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ONEOK Price Performance

OKE stock traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $81.06. 1,554,668 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,974,503. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.65. ONEOK, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.91 and a 1-year high of $81.81. The company has a market cap of $47.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61, a PEG ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.21 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.57 billion. ONEOK had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 22.57%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a $0.99 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.89%. ONEOK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.35%.

ONEOK declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 17th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the utilities provider to purchase up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on OKE shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on ONEOK from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Raymond James increased their target price on ONEOK from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. UBS Group increased their target price on ONEOK from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded ONEOK from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded ONEOK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $82.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith acquired 2,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $75.25 per share, with a total value of $203,175.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at $203,175. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

ONEOK Profile

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.