Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS cut its stake in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) by 6.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 340,948 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 25,441 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $85,486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of TRGP. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Targa Resources by 271.3% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 42,592 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,679,000 after purchasing an additional 31,120 shares during the last quarter. Heronetta Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Heronetta Management L.P. now owns 10,342 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,593,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the 1st quarter worth $261,000. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 564.1% in the 1st quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 158,775 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $39,810,000 after buying an additional 134,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. acquired a new stake in Targa Resources in the 1st quarter valued at about $219,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Targa Resources news, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 10,602 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.96, for a total transaction of $2,713,687.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 66,492 shares in the company, valued at $17,019,292.32. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Targa Resources Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of TRGP traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $273.24. The company had a trading volume of 744,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,284,316. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.14 and a 1-year high of $280.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $265.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $235.18. The stock has a market cap of $58.65 billion, a PE ratio of 27.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The pipeline company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $4.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.68 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 71.00% and a net margin of 12.87%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 10.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Targa Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRGP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $264.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on Targa Resources from $262.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Targa Resources from $327.00 to $331.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Targa Resources has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $281.93.

Targa Resources Profile

Targa Resources Corporation (NYSE: TRGP) is a U.S.-focused midstream energy company that provides gathering, processing, transportation, storage and marketing services for natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and condensate. Its operations span the midstream value chain, including gas gathering systems that collect production from wells, processing plants that separate and recover NGLs and other hydrocarbons, fractionation and purification facilities that prepare NGLs for market, and pipeline and terminal assets that move and store products for producers, refiners and other customers.

The company operates a network of pipelines, processing plants, fractionators and storage facilities that serve producers and consumers across major U.S.