Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Price Target Raised to $327.00 at Morgan Stanley

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $298.00 to $327.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Targa Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho upped their target price on Targa Resources from $207.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $241.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday, February 20th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Targa Resources from $192.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $242.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $256.71.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

TRGP stock opened at $250.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.20, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $231.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $192.80. Targa Resources has a fifty-two week low of $144.14 and a fifty-two week high of $253.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.21.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The pipeline company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.16. The business 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Targa Resources will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Robert Muraro sold 24,589 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.34, for a total transaction of $5,934,309.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 197,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,640,757.34. This represents a 11.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Patrick J. Mcdonie sold 31,537 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.36, for a total value of $7,548,696.32. Following the sale, the insider owned 305,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,043,815.68. This trade represents a 9.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 104,929 shares of company stock worth $24,692,134 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Targa Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TRGP. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 526 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,455 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp lifted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 340 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 4.1% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 3.6% in the third quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 1,714 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

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.