Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP Shares Purchased by Alps Advisors Inc.

Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 143,904 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,497 shares during the quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. owned about 0.07% of Targa Resources worth $24,110,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 260.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 128,911 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $22,526,000 after buying an additional 93,119 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in Targa Resources by 137.9% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 66,636 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,164,000 after acquiring an additional 38,626 shares in the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT raised its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 2.4% during the third quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 682,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $114,313,000 after purchasing an additional 16,000 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc raised its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 17.6% during the second quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 175,571 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $30,563,000 after purchasing an additional 26,318 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 34.2% during the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,270,128 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $221,104,000 after purchasing an additional 323,398 shares in the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on TRGP shares. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $213.00 price target on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Thursday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $185.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $205.00 to $207.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Targa Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $213.50.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In related news, insider Gerald R. Shrader sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.21, for a total transaction of $498,327.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 29,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,356,748.81. This represents a 8.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 20,000 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.21, for a total transaction of $3,444,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 22,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,812,557.19. This trade represents a 47.46% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Targa Resources Stock Up 2.9%

NYSE:TRGP opened at $211.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $185.87 and a 200-day moving average of $171.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.42 billion, a PE ratio of 28.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.88. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.14 and a 52 week high of $211.87.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.02). Targa Resources had a net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 51.87%. The firm had revenue of $4.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. Analysts predict that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is presently 53.19%.

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.