Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 34.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,858 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 992 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $161,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 104,219.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,241,143 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,855,224,000 after purchasing an additional 25,216,947 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,748,593 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,367,710,000 after purchasing an additional 348,951 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Targa Resources by 5.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,319,024 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $713,107,000 after acquiring an additional 401,144 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Targa Resources by 14.4% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,836,957 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $591,455,000 after acquiring an additional 986,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Targa Resources by 6.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,802,014 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $513,349,000 after acquiring an additional 421,874 shares during the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In related news, Director Joe Bob Perkins sold 33,405 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.67, for a total transaction of $3,262,666.35. Following the sale, the director now owns 38,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,754,434.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 2,500 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.66, for a total transaction of $244,150.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 71,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,012,769.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joe Bob Perkins sold 33,405 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.67, for a total transaction of $3,262,666.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 38,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,754,434.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 81,966 shares of company stock worth $7,987,215. 1.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on TRGP shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $111.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $109.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $104.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Targa Resources presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $117.92.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:TRGP opened at $111.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.46 and a beta of 2.21. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.49. Targa Resources Corp. has a twelve month low of $67.36 and a twelve month high of $117.61.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The pipeline company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.26). The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.50 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 5.20% and a return on equity of 18.64%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Targa Resources Corp. will post 5.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Targa Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is presently 54.50%.

Targa Resources 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.