Bridgewater Associates LP Decreases Holdings in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Bridgewater Associates LP reduced its position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 84.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,282 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 215,101 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $5,814,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in Targa Resources by 54.3% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 7,574 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $848,000 after buying an additional 2,664 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 10,117 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 751 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 215.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,052 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,478,000 after purchasing an additional 21,200 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its position in Targa Resources by 166.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 6,453 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $723,000 after purchasing an additional 4,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in Targa Resources by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 62,744 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,927,000 after purchasing an additional 11,098 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Price Performance

NYSE:TRGP opened at $204.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $174.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $147.03. Targa Resources Corp. has a 1-year low of $81.03 and a 1-year high of $209.87. The firm has a market cap of $44.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.24.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.75 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.28 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TRGP has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $182.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Targa Resources from $153.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Targa Resources from $147.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Targa Resources from $173.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, US Capital Advisors lowered shares of Targa Resources from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Targa Resources

In related news, Director Joe Bob Perkins sold 150,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 57.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert Muraro sold 2,500 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,504,736.20. This trade represents a 1.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 185,760 shares of company stock valued at $30,026,712. Company insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

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.