Empirical Finance LLC Buys 830 Shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in ONEOK were worth $994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of ONEOK during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in ONEOK during the third quarter worth $29,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in ONEOK during the second quarter worth $31,000. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in ONEOK in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of ONEOK in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. 69.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Pattye L. Moore sold 3,379 shares of ONEOK stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.01, for a total value of $310,901.79. The sale 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.

ONEOK Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of OKE stock opened at $109.81 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $64.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 1.66. ONEOK, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.68 and a 1 year high of $110.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.64.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.05). ONEOK had a net margin of 14.05% and a return on equity of 16.84%. The company had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that ONEOK, Inc. will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $0.99 dividend. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of ONEOK from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on ONEOK from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on ONEOK from $88.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America assumed coverage on ONEOK in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of ONEOK to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.38.

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.