Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP Shares Sold by Prospera Financial Services Inc

Prospera Financial Services Inc lowered its position in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) by 52.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,020 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,356 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,382,289 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,755,169,000 after purchasing an additional 422,075 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 9.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,643,139 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,291,012,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620,253 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 9.9% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,360,311 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $395,447,000 after acquiring an additional 212,887 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 4.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,175,544 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $364,491,000 after acquiring an additional 84,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 1,834,117 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $338,395,000 after acquiring an additional 8,559 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Patrick J. Mcdonie sold 31,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 305,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,043,815.68. This represents a 9.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 10,602 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.96, for a total transaction of $2,713,687.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 66,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,019,292.32. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 66,728 shares of company stock valued at $16,196,694. Insiders own 1.37% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TRGP opened at $255.14 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $251.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $216.18. Targa Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $144.14 and a one year high of $280.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.80, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.75.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The pipeline company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by ($0.27). Targa Resources had a net margin of 12.87% and a return on equity of 71.00%. The business had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.68 billion. On average, analysts predict that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 10.67 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This is a positive change from Targa Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on TRGP. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $255.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $249.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Seaport Research Partners restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Monday, May 4th. US Capital Advisors downgraded shares of Targa Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $281.00 price objective on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.21.

Targa Resources 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.