Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Trims Stock Position in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) by 9.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,360 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,133 shares during the quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $5,087,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of TRGP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,382,289 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,755,169,000 after purchasing an additional 422,075 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 9.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,643,139 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,291,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620,253 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the second quarter worth $708,366,000. UBS Group AG grew its position in Targa Resources by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,360,311 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $395,447,000 after buying an additional 212,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Targa Resources by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,175,544 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $364,491,000 after buying an additional 84,757 shares during the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In other Targa Resources news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.92, for a total transaction of $4,006,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,311,246.96. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 1,359 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.30, for a total transaction of $311,618.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 77,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,677,654.20. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 104,929 shares of company stock valued at $24,692,134 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on TRGP. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $241.00 price objective on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $213.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $200.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $248.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $207.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $246.54.

Targa Resources Price Performance

Targa Resources stock opened at $237.72 on Friday. Targa Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $144.14 and a one year high of $250.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.21, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.67. The business has a fifty day moving average of $216.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.68. The company has a market cap of $51.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.84.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The pipeline company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $4.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 65.48%. As a group, analysts predict that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is currently 46.57%.

Targa Resources Profile

Targa Resources Corporation (NYSE: TRGP) is a U.S.-focused midstream energy company that provides gathering, processing, transportation, storage and marketing services for natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and condensate. Its operations span the midstream value chain, including gas gathering systems that collect production from wells, processing plants that separate and recover NGLs and other hydrocarbons, fractionation and purification facilities that prepare NGLs for market, and pipeline and terminal assets that move and store products for producers, refiners and other customers.

The company operates a network of pipelines, processing plants, fractionators and storage facilities that serve producers and consumers across major U.S.