D. Scott Pryor Sells 17,500 Shares of Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Stock

Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) insider D. Scott Pryor sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.92, for a total transaction of $4,006,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 31,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,311,246.96. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Targa Resources Price Performance

Shares of TRGP stock opened at $235.55 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.21. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.14 and a 12-month high of $237.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $199.75 and a 200-day moving average of $177.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.88.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The pipeline company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.16. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 10.88%.The firm had revenue of $4.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is currently 46.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TRGP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Targa Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $218.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $226.00 price objective on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $266.00 price target on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Targa Resources by 548.8% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 224,984 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $41,510,000 after buying an additional 190,306 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC raised its position in Targa Resources by 104.2% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 3,022 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 1,542 shares in the last quarter. CacheTech Inc. bought a new stake in Targa Resources during the fourth quarter worth $214,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Targa Resources by 180.9% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,949 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,681,000 after acquiring an additional 12,846 shares during the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Targa Resources

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.