Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP Stock Position Reduced by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 175,858 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 6,333 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $47,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 57.0% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 34,805 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,421,000 after purchasing an additional 12,640 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 820,310 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $151,331,000 after buying an additional 53,413 shares in the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 37.3% in the 1st quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 230,592 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $57,816,000 after buying an additional 62,652 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG increased its holdings in Targa Resources by 164.1% in the fourth quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 33,641 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,245,000 after buying an additional 20,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Targa Resources by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,867,345 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,078,497,000 after buying an additional 45,495 shares during the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRGP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $282.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on Targa Resources in a report on Thursday, June 25th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Targa Resources from $324.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Targa Resources from $333.00 to $343.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Targa Resources

In other news, Director Charles Crisp sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.23, for a total transaction of $870,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 62,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,079,007.16. This trade represents a 4.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director S Davis sold 2,400 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.67, for a total value of $719,208.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $458,195.43. The trade was a 61.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 7,216 shares of company stock worth $2,127,634 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.37% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

NYSE TRGP opened at $290.20 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $277.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $260.41. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.14 and a 52-week high of $307.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.01, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.72.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.71. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 69.26% and a net margin of 13.55%.The company had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 11.23 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.80%.

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.