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

Bridgewater Associates LP lessened its holdings in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 84.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. 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.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of TRGP. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Targa Resources in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Targa Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 2,220.0% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 232 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 3,260 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 35,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,703,175.82. This trade represents a 8.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.33, for a total transaction of $5,709,900.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 185,760 shares of company stock worth $30,026,712. 1.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on TRGP. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $182.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $153.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Targa Resources from $190.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. US Capital Advisors downgraded Targa Resources from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Targa Resources from $173.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.50.

Targa Resources Price Performance

Shares of TRGP opened at $204.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $44.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.94, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.24. Targa Resources Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $81.03 and a fifty-two week high of $209.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $174.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.03.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

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

About Targa Resources

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.