Banco Santander S.A. Sells 1,191 Shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Banco Santander S.A. lessened its holdings in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 23.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,798 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,191 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Aspect Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 49.4% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 269 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 1,812.5% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 306 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on TRGP shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Targa Resources from $218.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Targa Resources from $218.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price objective on Targa Resources from $171.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Targa Resources from $220.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Targa Resources from $190.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.43.

Targa Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TRGP opened at $181.93 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. Targa Resources Corp. has a twelve month low of $103.18 and a twelve month high of $218.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $198.77 and its 200-day moving average is $180.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.70, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.32.

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

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.30, for a total transaction of $6,905,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,887 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 115,914 shares of company stock worth $22,613,288. 1.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.