Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,058,646 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 84,310 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $29,007,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter valued at $917,523,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter valued at about $157,804,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth about $87,729,000. Amundi boosted its position in Kinder Morgan by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 11,819,777 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $334,381,000 after purchasing an additional 2,650,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 223.9% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,465,980 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $94,968,000 after buying an additional 2,395,930 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on KMI shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kinder Morgan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.64.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

NYSE:KMI opened at $25.27 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $27.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.59, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.61 and a 1-year high of $31.48.

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

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.55%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In other news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.75, for a total value of $517,500.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 807,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,219,995. This represents a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of Kinder Morgan 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 owns 220,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,881,148.65. This trade represents a 25.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 129,461 shares of company stock valued at $3,506,116 over the last 90 days. 12.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kinder Morgan Profile

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.