Highland Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 4,445 Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Highland Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,445 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $793,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TRGP. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Targa Resources by 4.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,106,591 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,235,927,000 after buying an additional 633,589 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,717,487 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $843,680,000 after acquiring an additional 97,583 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Targa Resources by 1.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,331,503 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $197,076,000 after purchasing an additional 14,287 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 8.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,257,613 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $186,139,000 after purchasing an additional 96,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in Targa Resources by 19.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,034,545 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $153,124,000 after purchasing an additional 168,602 shares during the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:TRGP opened at $196.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $42.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.61. Targa Resources Corp. has a 1-year low of $84.33 and a 1-year high of $218.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $193.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.20.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion for 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 in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.41 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TRGP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $182.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $218.00 price objective for the company. US Capital Advisors cut Targa Resources from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Targa Resources from $172.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Targa Resources from $171.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Targa Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $189.21.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In other news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 30,000 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 82,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,793,393.07. This trade represents a 26.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 3,260 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.74, for a total value of $621,812.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 35,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,703,175.82. This represents a 8.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

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.