Robert Muraro Sells 24,589 Shares of Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Stock

Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) insider Robert Muraro sold 24,589 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.34, for a total value of $5,934,309.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 197,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,640,757.34. This trade represents a 11.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Targa Resources Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE TRGP opened at $237.30 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $205.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $180.59. Targa Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $144.14 and a one year high of $250.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.84. 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 (NYSE:TRGP) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 10.88%. Research analysts expect 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is presently 46.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on TRGP. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $266.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Targa Resources from $192.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Targa Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $242.00 price target on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $240.79.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Targa Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TRGP. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Targa Resources by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 143,904 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $24,110,000 after acquiring an additional 7,497 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 137.9% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT boosted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 2.4% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 16,000 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 5.0% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 484,462 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $81,167,000 after purchasing an additional 22,969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Targa Resources by 13.5% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 146,368 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $24,325,000 after purchasing an additional 17,457 shares during the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.