Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) Shares Sold by Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 42,318 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 160 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $7,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Targa Resources in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 394.6% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 183 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Aspect Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in Targa Resources by 49.4% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 269 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Targa Resources in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Targa Resources news, insider Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.42, for a total transaction of $5,750,856.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 227,269 shares in the company, valued at $43,731,100.98. This represents a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Matthew J. Meloy sold 48,837 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.08, for a total value of $9,527,121.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 725,628 shares in the company, valued at $141,555,510.24. This represents a 6.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 115,914 shares of company stock valued at $22,613,288. Insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of TRGP opened at $200.50 on Tuesday. Targa Resources Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $110.09 and a fifty-two week high of $218.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $199.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $43.73 billion, a PE ratio of 34.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.32.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Targa Resources Corp. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is 52.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on TRGP shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Targa Resources from $204.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Targa Resources from $218.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Targa Resources from $208.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $220.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $211.00.

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.