Northern Trust Corp Boosts Holdings in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,191,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 170,755 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.00% of Targa Resources worth $391,148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 19.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,034,545 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $153,124,000 after acquiring an additional 168,602 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC raised its holdings in Targa Resources by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 8,447 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 2,388 shares during the period. Fulcrum Equity Management raised its holdings in Targa Resources by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 3,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC boosted its position in Targa Resources by 3.3% during the third quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 3,131 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Targa Resources in the third quarter valued at approximately $145,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Targa Resources from $218.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $202.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $220.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. US Capital Advisors upgraded Targa Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Targa Resources from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Targa Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $209.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Matthew J. Meloy sold 48,837 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.08, for a total value of $9,527,121.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 725,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,555,510.24. This trade represents a 6.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 227,269 shares in the company, valued at $43,731,100.98. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 115,914 shares of company stock valued at $22,613,288 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.34% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of TRGP opened at $178.08 on Wednesday. Targa Resources Corp. has a 12-month low of $110.09 and a 12-month high of $218.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $184.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05.

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

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a yield of 2.34%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.69%.

About Targa Resources

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.