ARS Investment Partners LLC Sells 3,835 Shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

ARS Investment Partners LLC cut its position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 61,163 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,835 shares during the period. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $10,918,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TRGP. DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Targa Resources during the third quarter worth $29,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Targa Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Targa Resources during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted 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 acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Targa Resources by 39.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 374 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Targa Resources

In other news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were 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 directly owns 82,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,793,393.07. The trade was a 26.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 3,260 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.74, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 8.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on TRGP. Barclays boosted their price target on Targa Resources from $171.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $182.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Targa Resources from $172.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $190.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $189.21.

Targa Resources Price Performance

Shares of TRGP opened at $216.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $47.10 billion, a PE ratio of 39.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 2.30. Targa Resources Corp. has a 52-week low of $81.03 and a 52-week high of $217.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.77. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $191.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $163.93.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.17. Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.65% and a return on equity of 27.59%. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 54.25%.

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.