Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,160,608 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 150,038 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Targa Resources worth $4,848,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TRGP. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Targa Resources by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,685 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,217 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Targa Resources by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,026 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH raised its stake in Targa Resources by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 19,440 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,470,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC lifted its position in Targa Resources by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 2,239 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Targa Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TRGP opened at $205.01 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. The stock has a market cap of $44.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.72, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $199.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $183.75. Targa Resources Corp. has a 52 week low of $110.09 and a 52 week high of $218.51.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $1.44 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.48 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Targa Resources Corp. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on TRGP. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Targa Resources from $218.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $218.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $220.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, US Capital Advisors lowered Targa Resources from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $211.00.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In other news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 82,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,206,024.70. This represents a 29.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Matthew J. Meloy sold 48,837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.08, for a total transaction of $9,527,121.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 725,628 shares in the company, valued at $141,555,510.24. This represents a 6.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 115,914 shares of company stock valued at $22,613,288. Company insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Company 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.