Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 137 Shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Sentry Investment Management LLC decreased its position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 843 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 137 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Targa Resources in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Aspect Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 269 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 374 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on TRGP shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $171.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $182.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $190.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Targa Resources from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $205.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Targa Resources news, CEO Matthew J. Meloy sold 48,837 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.08, for a total transaction of $9,527,121.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 725,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,555,510.24. The trade was a 6.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.42, for a total value of $5,750,856.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 227,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,731,100.98. The trade was a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

TRGP stock opened at $198.20 on Thursday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $197.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.53. Targa Resources Corp. has a 1-year low of $96.64 and a 1-year high of $218.51. The company has a market capitalization of $43.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.53, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.29.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.46). Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 28.67%. The firm had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.48 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Targa Resources Corp. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.26%.

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.