North Dakota State Investment Board Invests $1.36 Million in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,365 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,359,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of TRGP. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Targa Resources by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,643,139 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,291,012,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620,253 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. bought a new stake in Targa Resources during the 3rd quarter worth $121,426,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Targa Resources by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,382,289 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,755,169,000 after acquiring an additional 422,075 shares during the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP increased its holdings in Targa Resources by 52.9% in the second quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP now owns 992,582 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $172,789,000 after purchasing an additional 343,319 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Targa Resources by 107.1% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 588,684 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $98,628,000 after purchasing an additional 304,426 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on TRGP shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Targa Resources from $200.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $268.00 price objective on Targa Resources in a report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Targa Resources from $228.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $241.00 price objective on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Targa Resources from $249.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $266.36.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Targa Resources stock opened at $276.51 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $246.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $210.49. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.14 and a 1-year high of $277.23. The company has a market cap of $59.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.96, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.75.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The pipeline company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by ($0.27). Targa Resources had a return on equity of 71.00% and a net margin of 12.87%.The business had revenue of $4.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.68 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 10.66 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a boost from Targa Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is currently 50.56%.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In other news, insider Robert Muraro sold 24,589 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.34, for a total transaction of $5,934,309.26. Following the transaction, the insider owned 197,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,640,757.34. This represents a 11.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 10,602 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.96, for a total transaction of $2,713,687.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 66,492 shares in the company, valued at $17,019,292.32. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 115,531 shares of company stock worth $27,405,821. 1.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Targa Resources Company 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.