Picton Mahoney Asset Management Decreases Stock Position in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Key Points

• Picton Mahoney Asset Management trimmed its stake in Targa Resources by 23.3% in Q3, selling 16,066 shares and leaving it with 52,866 shares worth about $8.86 million.
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently — 83,090 shares sold in the last three months (≈$19.26 million), including director sales by Lindsey Cooksen and D. Scott Pryor — while institutional ownership remains high at 92.13%.
• Analysts are generally bullish: the stock carries a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target of $240.79, and notable upgrades include Morgan Stanley raising its target to $298 and Weiss moving to a "buy" rating.

Picton Mahoney Asset Management cut its stake in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 23.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,866 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 16,066 shares during the quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management's holdings in Targa Resources were worth $8,857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in Targa Resources by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 143,904 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $24,110,000 after purchasing an additional 7,497 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 137.9% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 66,636 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $11,164,000 after buying an additional 38,626 shares during the period. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 2.4% during the third quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 682,300 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $114,313,000 after buying an additional 16,000 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 5.0% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 484,462 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $81,167,000 after buying an additional 22,969 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 13.5% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 146,368 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $24,325,000 after buying an additional 17,457 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Targa Resources

In related news, Director Lindsey Cooksen sold 435 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.72, for a total transaction of $100,798.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,670 shares in the company, valued at $2,704,172.40. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 17,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $7,311,246.96. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 83,090 shares of company stock worth $19,256,152. 1.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Targa Resources Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE:TRGP opened at $243.28 on Thursday. 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 1-year low of $144.14 and a 1-year high of $250.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $203.26 and a 200 day moving average of $179.51. The firm has a market cap of $52.29 billion, a PE ratio of 28.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.84.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The pipeline company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.16. Targa Resources had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 65.48%. The business had revenue of $4.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Targa Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TRGP. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Targa Resources from $266.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Targa Resources from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $241.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a research note on Friday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $242.00 price target on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $200.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $240.79.

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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