Insider Selling: Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Director Sells 1,359 Shares of Stock

Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) Director Charles Crisp sold 1,359 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.30, for a total value of $311,618.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 77,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,677,654.20. This represents a 1.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Shares of TRGP stock traded down $1.63 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $230.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,142,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,376,768. The business has a fifty day moving average of $196.58 and a 200-day moving average of $176.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.21. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.14 and a 52 week high of $233.28. The company has a market cap of $49.46 billion, a PE ratio of 26.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Targa Resources

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TRGP. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in Targa Resources by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 18,423 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,693,000 after purchasing an additional 5,327 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 157.4% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,931 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $788,000 after purchasing an additional 2,404 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in Targa Resources by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 4,555 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $793,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Targa Resources by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,310 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 19.8% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,686 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,034,000 after buying an additional 1,928 shares during the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Targa Resources from $207.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $241.00 price objective on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Targa Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup increased 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. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.50.

About Targa Resources

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.