Navellier & Associates Inc. Trims Stock Position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Navellier & Associates Inc. lessened its holdings in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 59,704 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,465 shares during the quarter. Targa Resources comprises 1.2% of Navellier & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $8,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Buckley Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 0.7% during the third quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,925 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,469,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 9.8% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 934 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 4.0% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,172 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 1.0% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,911 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,148,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its stake in Targa Resources by 22.9% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 478 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Price Performance

TRGP opened at $205.22 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.82. The firm has a market cap of $44.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.67, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 2.24. Targa Resources Corp. has a twelve month low of $81.03 and a twelve month high of $205.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.24 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.65% and a return on equity of 27.59%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is 54.25%.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In other Targa Resources news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.33, for a total transaction of $5,709,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 82,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,793,393.07. This trade represents a 26.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Robert Muraro sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.20, for a total transaction of $365,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 174,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,504,736.20. This represents a 1.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 185,760 shares of company stock valued at $30,026,712. Corporate insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TRGP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $147.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $190.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Argus raised shares of Targa Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $182.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $172.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $176.50.

Targa Resources 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.