Verition Fund Management LLC Acquires 12,302 Shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 12.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 114,797 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,302 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC owned 0.05% of Targa Resources worth $16,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Targa Resources in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 2,220.0% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 232 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 82,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,793,393.07. This trade represents a 26.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 3,260 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.74, for a total value of $621,812.40. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 185,760 shares of company stock worth $30,026,712. Company insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Targa Resources stock opened at $204.30 on Friday. Targa Resources Corp. has a 1-year low of $81.03 and a 1-year high of $209.87. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.55 billion, a PE ratio of 36.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.24.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion for 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

TRGP has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Targa Resources from $182.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America began coverage on Targa Resources in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $182.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Targa Resources from $190.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. US Capital Advisors cut shares of Targa Resources from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $153.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $176.50.

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.