State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Trims Stock Position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its stake in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 37.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,858 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 44,395 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $9,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its position in Targa Resources by 32.4% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 687,132 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $88,489,000 after acquiring an additional 168,267 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Targa Resources by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 68,366 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,804,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC acquired a new position in Targa Resources in the second quarter worth $929,000. Prudential PLC grew its position in shares of Targa Resources by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 105,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $13,607,000 after buying an additional 10,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $78,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

TRGP stock opened at $148.19 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.61. Targa Resources Corp. has a 52 week low of $77.97 and a 52 week high of $152.42. The stock has a market cap of $32.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 2.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pipeline company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.12. Targa Resources had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 23.98%. The business had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Targa Resources Corp. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is 61.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Targa Resources news, insider Robert Muraro sold 9,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.31, for a total value of $1,290,069.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 186,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,361,584.81. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Paul W. Chung sold 5,264 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.03, for a total value of $726,589.92. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 232,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,137,110.81. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert Muraro sold 9,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.31, for a total value of $1,290,069.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 186,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,361,584.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,534 shares of company stock worth $4,788,590. Insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on TRGP. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Targa Resources from $124.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $123.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Argus raised Targa Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Targa Resources from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Targa Resources has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.54.

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.