Patton Fund Management Inc. Sells 3,823 Shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Patton Fund Management Inc. cut its position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 25,433 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,823 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc.’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $4,540,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in TRGP. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 312,308 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $55,747,000 after acquiring an additional 24,358 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Targa Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $321,000. Williams & Novak LLC increased its position in Targa Resources by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Williams & Novak LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Targa Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $195,000. Finally, Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Targa Resources in the fourth quarter worth approximately $964,000. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on TRGP. UBS Group increased their target price on Targa Resources from $182.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Targa Resources from $190.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Targa Resources in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $182.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on Targa Resources in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $218.00 price target for the company. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Targa Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $189.21.

Insider Transactions at Targa Resources

In related news, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 3,260 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.74, for a total value of $621,812.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 35,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,703,175.82. This represents a 8.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 30,000 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.33, for a total transaction of $5,709,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 82,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,793,393.07. The trade was a 26.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

NYSE TRGP opened at $202.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $44.17 billion, a PE ratio of 36.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 2.30. Targa Resources Corp. has a 52-week low of $84.33 and a 52-week high of $218.51. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.22.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.24 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 27.59% and a net margin of 7.65%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.