Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) Price Target Raised to $244.00

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) had its price target hoisted by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $244.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 24.96% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Targa Resources from $171.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Targa Resources from $218.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. US Capital Advisors cut Targa Resources from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Targa Resources from $218.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $209.43.

Targa Resources Stock Up 2.6 %

NYSE TRGP traded up $4.96 during trading on Monday, hitting $195.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 555,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,576,547. 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 company has a market cap of $42.59 billion, a PE ratio of 34.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.32. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $199.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.60. Targa Resources has a fifty-two week low of $106.04 and a fifty-two week high of $218.51.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.46). The business had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.48 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 28.67% and a net margin of 7.81%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Targa Resources will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Targa Resources

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Targa Resources in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $505,132,000. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Targa Resources in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $393,335,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Targa Resources by 981.8% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,144,109 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $204,223,000 after buying an additional 1,038,350 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Targa Resources during the fourth quarter worth $150,372,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Targa Resources by 568.7% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 970,373 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $173,212,000 after buying an additional 825,267 shares in the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.