Korea Investment CORP Grows Stock Holdings in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Korea Investment CORP lifted its position in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) by 37.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 260,760 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 70,998 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $43,688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Targa Resources by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,382,289 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,755,169,000 after acquiring an additional 422,075 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Targa Resources by 1.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,856,899 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,022,222,000 after purchasing an additional 95,611 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Targa Resources in the second quarter worth $708,366,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Targa Resources by 12.0% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,886,844 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $328,462,000 after purchasing an additional 201,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Targa Resources by 7.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,601,244 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $278,745,000 after purchasing an additional 107,028 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Robert Muraro sold 24,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.34, for a total transaction of $5,934,309.26. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 197,401 shares in the company, valued at $47,640,757.34. This trade represents a 11.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick J. Mcdonie sold 31,537 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.36, for a total value of $7,548,696.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 305,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,043,815.68. This represents a 9.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 104,929 shares of company stock worth $24,692,134. 1.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TRGP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $242.00 price objective on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Targa Resources from $192.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Targa Resources from $207.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $226.00 price target on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $240.79.

Targa Resources Price Performance

NYSE:TRGP opened at $237.30 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.21, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $205.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $180.72. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.14 and a 1-year high of $250.00. The firm has a market cap of $51.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.84.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The pipeline company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $4.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 65.48%. Equities research analysts forecast that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.57%.

Targa Resources 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.