Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Decreases Holdings in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lowered its stake in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 818,524 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 104,961 shares during the period. Targa Resources makes up approximately 1.3% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned 0.37% of Targa Resources worth $105,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,015,992 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,025,521,000 after acquiring an additional 201,817 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. raised its position in Targa Resources by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 9,695,457 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,085,794,000 after purchasing an additional 252,729 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Targa Resources by 13.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,303,522 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $296,647,000 after purchasing an additional 271,444 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,772,359 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $153,965,000 after buying an additional 213,070 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 26.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,738,721 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $194,720,000 after buying an additional 360,675 shares during the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Targa Resources from $123.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Targa Resources from $124.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Argus upgraded shares of Targa Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $116.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Targa Resources has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $141.77.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Robert Muraro sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.20, for a total transaction of $365,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 174,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,504,736.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Targa Resources news, Director Joe Bob Perkins sold 150,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.53, for a total value of $23,329,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 110,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,181,399.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert Muraro sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.20, for a total value of $365,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 174,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,504,736.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 175,534 shares of company stock worth $26,815,021. Corporate insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Shares of TRGP stock opened at $146.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $32.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.21, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 2.26. Targa Resources Corp. has a 52-week low of $77.97 and a 52-week high of $157.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98. The company’s 50 day moving average is $142.70 and its 200 day moving average is $126.95.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pipeline company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.33 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 23.98% and a net margin of 6.60%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Targa Resources Corp. will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is 61.73%.

Targa Resources 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.