American International Group Inc. Decreases Position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

American International Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,326 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 718 shares during the period. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $6,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,015,992 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,025,521,000 after purchasing an additional 201,817 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 231.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,378,046 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $119,712,000 after buying an additional 962,073 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 287.3% in the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 45,700 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,118,000 after buying an additional 33,900 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 6,169 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $536,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 160.3% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 290,080 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $32,486,000 after buying an additional 178,655 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $111.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $123.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Argus started coverage on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $132.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.13, for a total transaction of $2,262,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 136,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,396,766.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.13, for a total value of $2,262,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 136,098 shares in the company, valued at $15,396,766.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.54, for a total transaction of $787,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 95,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,744,306.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,691 shares of company stock valued at $6,197,632 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:TRGP opened at $131.98 on Friday. Targa Resources Corp. has a one year low of $77.97 and a one year high of $138.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.16, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 2.27.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The pipeline company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.13). Targa Resources had a return on equity of 24.41% and a net margin of 6.86%. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Targa Resources Corp. will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is currently 61.73%.

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.