Gradient Investments LLC Purchases 26,366 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. $KMI

Gradient Investments LLC grew its position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 503,379 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,366 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $13,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Kinder Morgan by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 208,116,318 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,891,773,000 after purchasing an additional 896,837 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,162,802,000. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd lifted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 22,635,179 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $665,474,000 after buying an additional 670,856 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,165,368 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $627,502,000 after buying an additional 216,039 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,551,759 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $468,588,000 after buying an additional 205,820 shares during the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kinder Morgan news, CFO David Patrick Michels sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 139,428 shares in the company, valued at $4,182,840. This trade represents a 12.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Anthony B. Ashley sold 8,000 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total transaction of $255,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 100,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,199,664.70. The trade was a 7.40% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 48,048 shares of company stock worth $1,469,863 in the last quarter. 12.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen increased their price target on Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.46.

Kinder Morgan Trading Up 2.6%

NYSE:KMI opened at $33.71 on Tuesday. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.94 and a 12 month high of $34.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $31.45 and its 200 day moving average is $28.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.99 billion, a PE ratio of 24.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.68.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.02. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 18.04%.The business had revenue of $4.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. Kinder Morgan’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.2925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.40%.

Kinder Morgan Company Profile

Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) is a large energy infrastructure company that owns and operates an extensive network of pipelines and terminals across North America. Its core activities center on the transportation, storage and handling of energy products, including natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, refined petroleum products and carbon dioxide. The company’s assets include long-haul and gathering pipelines, storage facilities, and multi-modal terminals that serve producers, refiners, utilities and industrial customers.

Kinder Morgan’s operations deliver midstream services such as pipeline transportation, terminaling, storage and related logistics and maintenance.