Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Lowers Position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina decreased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 95,139 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 890 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $16,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of TRGP. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Targa Resources in the fourth quarter valued at about $505,132,000. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $393,335,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $150,372,000. TD Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 825,267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,841,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $353,469,000 after acquiring an additional 318,261 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on TRGP shares. Mizuho increased their price target on Targa Resources from $208.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. US Capital Advisors upgraded shares of Targa Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $211.00 to $206.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $218.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Targa Resources currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Targa Resources news, insider Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,887 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 227,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,731,100.98. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Matthew J. Meloy sold 48,837 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.08, for a total value of $9,527,121.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 725,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,555,510.24. This represents a 6.31 % decrease in their position. 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 90 days. 1.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Targa Resources Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of TRGP opened at $163.27 on Friday. 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 $35.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.44, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $192.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $186.83. Targa Resources Corp. has a 12 month low of $110.09 and a 12 month high of $218.51.

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

Targa Resources Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is currently 52.26%.

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.