The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Trims Stake in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its stake in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 145,558 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 9,454 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.07% of Targa Resources worth $21,544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the second quarter worth $72,345,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Targa Resources by 239.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 791,095 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $101,877,000 after purchasing an additional 557,832 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,303,522 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $296,647,000 after purchasing an additional 271,444 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Targa Resources by 599.1% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 287,950 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $42,619,000 after purchasing an additional 246,762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 14,163.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 204,254 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,232,000 after purchasing an additional 202,822 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Robert Muraro sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.20, for a total transaction of $365,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 174,451 shares in the company, valued at $25,504,736.20. This trade represents a 1.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.33, for a total value of $5,709,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 82,979 shares in the company, valued at $15,793,393.07. This trade represents a 26.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 185,760 shares of company stock valued at $30,026,712 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on TRGP shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Targa Resources from $190.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Argus upgraded shares of Targa Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $155.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. US Capital Advisors cut shares of Targa Resources from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.50.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Shares of TRGP opened at $204.30 on Friday. Targa Resources Corp. has a 12 month low of $81.03 and a 12 month high of $209.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $174.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $147.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. The firm has a market cap of $44.55 billion, a PE ratio of 36.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.24.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.17. Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.65% and a return on equity of 27.59%. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is currently 54.25%.

Targa Resources Company 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.