National Pension Service Sells 33,177 Shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

National Pension Service reduced its stake in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 265,205 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 33,177 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $47,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 65.1% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 25,615 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,791,000 after purchasing an additional 10,100 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 85.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 28,530 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,070,000 after purchasing an additional 13,167 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 191.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,268 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after purchasing an additional 5,431 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $271,000. Finally, Braun Stacey Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $11,042,000. 92.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In other Targa Resources news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 35,000 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.30, for a total transaction of $6,905,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 82,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,206,024.70. The trade was a 29.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Waters S. Iv Davis sold 2,190 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.26, for a total transaction of $429,809.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $568,957.74. This trade represents a 43.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 115,914 shares of company stock valued at $22,613,288. 1.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Targa Resources Price Performance

NYSE:TRGP opened at $195.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $42.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $197.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.65. Targa Resources Corp. has a 1-year low of $96.64 and a 1-year high of $218.51.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.46). Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 28.67%. The company had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.48 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Targa Resources Corp. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on TRGP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $190.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $172.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $208.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $218.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $205.43.

Targa Resources Profile

Targa Resources Corp., together with its subsidiary, Targa Resources Partners LP, owns, operates, acquires, and develops a portfolio of complementary domestic midstream infrastructure assets in North America. It operates in two segments, Gathering and Processing, and Logistics and Transportation. The company is involved in gathering, compressing, treating, processing, transporting, and selling natural gas; storing, fractionating, treating, transporting, and selling natural gas liquids (NGL) and NGL products, including services to liquefied petroleum gas exporters; and gathering, storing, terminaling, purchasing, and selling crude oil.