Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $1,610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TRGP. Blackstone Inc. boosted its position in Targa Resources by 60.4% during the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 9,442,728 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $820,290,000 after acquiring an additional 3,554,989 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Targa Resources during the fourth quarter worth approximately $187,123,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Targa Resources by 231.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,378,046 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $119,712,000 after acquiring an additional 962,073 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Targa Resources by 71.8% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,024,713 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $114,758,000 after acquiring an additional 428,276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Targa Resources by 876.1% during the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 428,107 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $47,944,000 after acquiring an additional 384,248 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on TRGP shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $116.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $132.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $147.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.54.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Shares of TRGP stock opened at $144.13 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $133.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.04. Targa Resources Corp. has a 52 week low of $77.97 and a 52 week high of $144.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98. The company has a market cap of $31.96 billion, a PE ratio of 29.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 2.27.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pipeline company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.12. Targa Resources had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 23.98%. The firm had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Targa Resources Corp. will post 5.8 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Robert Muraro sold 9,900 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.31, for a total transaction of $1,290,069.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 186,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,361,584.81. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Targa Resources news, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 1,213 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.02, for a total transaction of $160,140.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 52,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,898,969.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert Muraro sold 9,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.31, for a total transaction of $1,290,069.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 186,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,361,584.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 43,034 shares of company stock valued at $5,623,890 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

About Targa Resources

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.