KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases New Shares in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 80,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,351,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRGP. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Targa Resources in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Targa Resources by 394.6% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 183 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Aspect Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Targa Resources by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in shares of Targa Resources by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 269 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Targa Resources in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Price Performance

Shares of TRGP stock opened at $197.25 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $199.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $183.36. Targa Resources Corp. has a 12 month low of $110.09 and a 12 month high of $218.51. The company has a market capitalization of $43.02 billion, a PE ratio of 34.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.32.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.46). Targa Resources had a return on equity of 28.67% and a net margin of 7.81%. The firm had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.48 billion. Analysts predict that Targa Resources Corp. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TRGP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. US Capital Advisors lowered shares of Targa Resources from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $208.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $204.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $211.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Targa Resources

In other Targa Resources news, CEO Matthew J. Meloy sold 48,837 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.08, for a total transaction of $9,527,121.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 725,628 shares in the company, valued at $141,555,510.24. This trade represents a 6.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 35,000 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.30, for a total transaction of $6,905,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 82,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,206,024.70. This trade represents a 29.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 115,914 shares of company stock worth $22,613,288 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Company Profile

Targa Resources Corp., together with its subsidiary, Targa Resources Partners LP, owns, operates, acquires, and develops a portfolio of complementary domestic midstream infrastructure assets in North America. It operates in two segments, Gathering and Processing, and Logistics and Transportation. The company is involved in gathering, compressing, treating, processing, transporting, and selling natural gas; storing, fractionating, treating, transporting, and selling natural gas liquids (NGL) and NGL products, including services to liquefied petroleum gas exporters; and gathering, storing, terminaling, purchasing, and selling crude oil.