Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) Shares Sold by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 3.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,979 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,310 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $9,914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Targa Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,408,000. Cynosure Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the third quarter worth $694,000. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in Targa Resources in the third quarter valued at $329,000. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in Targa Resources by 680.8% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 27,969 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,140,000 after buying an additional 24,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in Targa Resources by 8.8% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 4,952 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $733,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Targa Resources Stock Down 1.0 %

TRGP stock opened at $201.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.92 billion, a PE ratio of 36.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $173.37 and a 200-day moving average of $146.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.77. Targa Resources Corp. has a one year low of $81.03 and a one year high of $209.87.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.17. Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.65% and a return on equity of 27.59%. The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.28 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Robert Muraro sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.20, for a total value of $365,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 174,451 shares in the company, valued at $25,504,736.20. This represents a 1.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joe Bob Perkins sold 150,000 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.53, for a total value of $23,329,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 110,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,181,399.10. This represents a 57.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 185,760 shares of company stock worth $30,026,712. 1.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRGP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $153.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America started coverage on Targa Resources in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $182.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Targa Resources from $190.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Targa Resources from $172.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Targa Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.50.

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.