Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lowered its position in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 16.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 750,892 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 145,488 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned about 0.34% of Targa Resources worth $134,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 4,672 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $834,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Targa Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $220,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its position in shares of Targa Resources by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 10,057 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,795,000 after buying an additional 3,457 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 193.7% during the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 3,145 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $560,000 after buying an additional 2,074 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 568.7% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 970,373 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $173,212,000 after buying an additional 825,267 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Targa Resources news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.30, for a total transaction of $6,905,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 82,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,206,024.70. This represents a 29.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Matthew J. Meloy sold 48,837 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.08, for a total transaction of $9,527,121.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 725,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141,555,510.24. This represents a 6.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 115,914 shares of company stock worth $22,613,288 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Trading Up 3.9 %

Targa Resources stock opened at $205.01 on Tuesday. Targa Resources Corp. has a 12 month low of $110.09 and a 12 month high of $218.51. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $199.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $183.75. The company has a market capitalization of $44.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.32.

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

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on TRGP shares. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $218.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $204.00 to $211.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup upped their target price on Targa Resources from $218.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Targa Resources from $220.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.00.

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.