Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP Shares Sold by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,445 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 13,715 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $4,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TRGP. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 1.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,960,214 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,867,314,000 after buying an additional 375,939 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Targa Resources by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,856,899 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,022,222,000 after acquiring an additional 95,611 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Targa Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $708,366,000. Amundi lifted its position in Targa Resources by 33.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,463,271 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $493,812,000 after acquiring an additional 622,096 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,886,844 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $328,462,000 after purchasing an additional 201,927 shares during the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Gerald R. Shrader sold 2,750 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.21, for a total transaction of $498,327.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 29,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,356,748.81. The trade was a 8.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.21, for a total transaction of $3,444,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 22,139 shares in the company, valued at $3,812,557.19. This represents a 47.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on TRGP shares. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $228.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $240.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $205.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $189.00 to $188.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $198.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.79.

Targa Resources Stock Up 1.0%

TRGP stock opened at $185.70 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $39.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.89. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.14 and a 52 week high of $218.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $171.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.91.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.02). Targa Resources had a net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 51.87%. The company had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is currently 53.19%.

Targa Resources Profile

Targa Resources Corporation (NYSE: TRGP) is a U.S.-focused midstream energy company that provides gathering, processing, transportation, storage and marketing services for natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and condensate. Its operations span the midstream value chain, including gas gathering systems that collect production from wells, processing plants that separate and recover NGLs and other hydrocarbons, fractionation and purification facilities that prepare NGLs for market, and pipeline and terminal assets that move and store products for producers, refiners and other customers.

The company operates a network of pipelines, processing plants, fractionators and storage facilities that serve producers and consumers across major U.S.