North Dakota State Investment Board Purchases Shares of 7,365 Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Key Points

• North Dakota State Investment Board opened a new position in Targa Resources during the fourth quarter, buying 7,365 shares worth about $1.36 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other investors holding 92.13% of the company; several funds increased their stakes in recent quarters.
• Targa Resources recently reported earnings that missed analyst estimates, but the company also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.25 per share, boosting the annualized payout to $5.00.

North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new stake in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,365 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $1,359,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Korea Investment CORP increased its position in shares of Targa Resources by 37.4% in the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 260,760 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $43,688,000 after acquiring an additional 70,998 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Targa Resources by 5.5% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 143,904 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $24,110,000 after acquiring an additional 7,497 shares during the last quarter. NFC Investments LLC bought a new position in Targa Resources during the third quarter worth about $8,478,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Targa Resources by 5.0% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 484,462 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $81,167,000 after purchasing an additional 22,969 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its holdings in Targa Resources by 26.8% during the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,242,347 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $208,143,000 after purchasing an additional 262,553 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Targa Resources

In other Targa Resources news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 17,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.92, for a total transaction of $4,006,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,938 shares in the company, valued at $7,311,246.96. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 10,602 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.96, for a total transaction of $2,713,687.92. Following the transaction, the director owned 66,492 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,019,292.32. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 115,531 shares of company stock valued at $27,405,821. 1.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on TRGP shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Targa Resources from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $268.00 price target on Targa Resources in a report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Targa Resources from $200.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Targa Resources from $236.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $266.36.

Targa Resources Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of TRGP stock opened at $276.51 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64. The stock has a market cap of $59.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $246.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $210.49. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.14 and a 1 year high of $277.23.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The pipeline company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.48 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.68 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 12.87% and a return on equity of 71.00%. On average, research analysts predict that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 10.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Targa Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Targa Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.56%.

Targa Resources Company 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.

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