Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Purchases 38,420 Shares of Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Key Points

• Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its stake in Targa Resources by 34.8%, buying 38,420 shares to hold 148,833 shares worth $27.46 million (about 0.07% of the company).
• Analyst sentiment has trended positive—Barclays and Morgan Stanley raised price targets (to $255 and $327 respectively)—and MarketBeat's consensus rating is a Moderate Buy with an average target of $256.71.
• Institutional ownership is high at 92.13%, while insiders have sold 104,929 shares (~$24.69 million) in the last three months, leaving insiders with 1.37% ownership.

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 34.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 148,833 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 38,420 shares during the quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. owned about 0.07% of Targa Resources worth $27,460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TRGP. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 9.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,643,139 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,291,012,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620,253 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the third quarter valued at $121,426,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,382,289 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $4,755,169,000 after acquiring an additional 422,075 shares in the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 52.9% during the second quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP now owns 992,582 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $172,789,000 after acquiring an additional 343,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 107.1% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 588,684 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $98,628,000 after acquiring an additional 304,426 shares in the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on TRGP. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $242.00 price target on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Targa Resources from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays raised their price target on Targa Resources from $226.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and set a $241.00 price target on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Targa Resources from $298.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $256.71.

Targa Resources Trading Up 0.1%

Targa Resources stock opened at $243.36 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.21, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Targa Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $144.14 and a one year high of $253.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.27 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.81. The business's fifty day moving average is $233.70 and its 200 day moving average is $194.38.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The pipeline company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.16. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 10.88%.The company had revenue of $4.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.12 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Targa Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.57%.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In related news, insider Patrick J. Mcdonie sold 31,537 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.36, for a total transaction of $7,548,696.32. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 305,163 shares of the company's stock, valued at $73,043,815.68. This trade represents a 9.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.92, for a total value of $4,006,100.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 31,938 shares in the company, valued at $7,311,246.96. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 104,929 shares of company stock valued at $24,692,134 over the last three months. 1.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Targa Resources

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.