Fayez Sarofim & Co Sells 6,700 Shares of Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Fayez Sarofim & Co cut its stake in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,614 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 6,700 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $1,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Targa Resources by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,382,289 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,755,169,000 after purchasing an additional 422,075 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Targa Resources by 9.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,643,139 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,291,012,000 after buying an additional 1,620,253 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Targa Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $708,366,000. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Targa Resources by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,360,311 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $395,447,000 after buying an additional 212,887 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,886,844 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $328,462,000 after buying an additional 201,927 shares in the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Targa Resources Trading Down 0.3%

TRGP opened at $239.26 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.21, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Targa Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.14 and a fifty-two week high of $250.00. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $211.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $183.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.85, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.84.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The pipeline company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $4.06 billion during 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

TRGP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Targa Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $226.00 price objective on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Targa Resources from $213.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Targa Resources from $218.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $241.93.

About Targa Resources

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.