Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Buys 632 Shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 15.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,672 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 632 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TRGP. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in Targa Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 394.6% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 183 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Aspect Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position 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 buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Targa Resources during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Matthew J. Meloy sold 48,837 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.08, for a total transaction of $9,527,121.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 725,628 shares in the company, valued at $141,555,510.24. The trade was a 6.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.30, for a total transaction of $6,905,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 82,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,206,024.70. The trade was a 29.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 115,914 shares of company stock worth $22,613,288. 1.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $218.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Targa Resources from $220.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Targa Resources from $204.00 to $211.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $208.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $202.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Targa Resources has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.00.

Targa Resources Price Performance

TRGP stock opened at $198.97 on Friday. 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 has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.39. The company has a market capitalization of $43.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.32. Targa Resources Corp. has a 52-week low of $110.09 and a 52-week high of $218.51.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.46). Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 28.67%. The company had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.48 billion. Research analysts expect that Targa Resources Corp. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is currently 52.26%.

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.