Korea Investment CORP Sells 426,740 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Korea Investment CORP lessened its position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 21.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,587,006 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 426,740 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.07% of Kinder Morgan worth $43,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter worth $217,000. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 10,915 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares during the period. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 34,908 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $956,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,055,429 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $28,919,000 after purchasing an additional 4,841 shares during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 67,365 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,846,000 after buying an additional 690 shares during the period. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KMI. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. Barclays upgraded Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total transaction of $2,011,035.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 220,681 shares in the company, valued at $5,881,148.65. This trade represents a 25.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $502,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 861,652 shares in the company, valued at $24,048,707.32. The trade was a 2.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 129,461 shares of company stock valued at $3,490,996 in the last quarter. 12.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

Shares of KMI opened at $28.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $62.75 billion, a PE ratio of 24.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $27.51 and a 200-day moving average of $26.29. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a one year low of $17.61 and a one year high of $31.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.01). Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 17.31%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.2875 dividend. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.29%.

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.