Russell Investments Group Ltd. Boosts Stake in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 19.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 717,585 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 119,181 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $128,075,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TRGP. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 394.6% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 183 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Aspect Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Targa Resources by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 269 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Trading Down 11.1 %

TRGP opened at $160.64 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $35.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.99, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $197.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $186.26. Targa Resources Corp. has a 12 month low of $110.09 and a 12 month high of $218.51.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.48 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 28.67%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Targa Resources Corp. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is 52.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TRGP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Targa Resources from $220.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $202.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $218.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $211.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Targa Resources

In related news, insider Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.42, for a total value of $5,750,856.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 227,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,731,100.98. This represents a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Matthew J. Meloy sold 48,837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,555,510.24. The trade was a 6.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 115,914 shares of company stock worth $22,613,288. 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.