AXQ Capital LP Decreases Stock Position in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

AXQ Capital LP lessened its holdings in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) by 79.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,831 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 6,990 shares during the quarter. AXQ Capital LP’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of TRGP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,382,289 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,755,169,000 after purchasing an additional 422,075 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Targa Resources by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,856,899 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,022,222,000 after purchasing an additional 95,611 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Targa Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $708,366,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 12.0% in 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 buying an additional 201,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 107,028 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Price Performance

NYSE:TRGP opened at $230.09 on Thursday. 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 $197.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.97. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.14 and a 1-year high of $233.28. The firm has a market cap of $49.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.88.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The pipeline company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $4.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is currently 46.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TRGP has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $241.00 price target on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Targa Resources from $213.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Targa Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Targa Resources news, President Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,509 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.12, for a total transaction of $6,790,611.08. Following the transaction, the president owned 235,260 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,138,031.20. This represents a 11.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Gerald R. Shrader sold 2,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.21, for a total value of $498,327.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 29,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,356,748.81. This trade represents a 8.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,618 shares of company stock valued at $7,600,557. 1.34% of the stock is owned by company 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.