PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Key Points

• PNC Financial Services Group boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 57% in the fourth quarter, ending with 34,805 shares valued at about $6.42 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other investors holding 92.13% of Targa Resources, while several large firms also increased their positions.
• Analysts are broadly positive on TRGP: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating with an average target price of $266.36, though the company recently missed quarterly EPS and revenue estimates.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 57.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,805 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,640 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.'s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $6,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRGP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Targa Resources by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,382,289 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $4,755,169,000 after purchasing an additional 422,075 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Targa Resources by 9.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,643,139 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,291,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620,253 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Targa Resources by 9.9% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,360,311 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $395,447,000 after purchasing an additional 212,887 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Targa Resources by 4.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,175,544 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $364,491,000 after purchasing an additional 84,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Targa Resources by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 1,834,117 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $338,395,000 after purchasing an additional 8,559 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Patrick J. Mcdonie sold 31,537 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 305,163 shares in the company, valued at $73,043,815.68. This trade represents a 9.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 10,602 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.96, for a total value of $2,713,687.92. Following the transaction, the director owned 66,492 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,019,292.32. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 115,531 shares of company stock valued at $27,405,821. 1.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRGP has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Targa Resources from $236.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $281.00 price objective on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Targa Resources from $327.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Targa Resources from $228.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $268.00 price objective on Targa Resources in a report on Friday, May 8th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Targa Resources currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $266.36.

Targa Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TRGP opened at $276.62 on Monday. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.14 and a 1-year high of $280.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.64, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $248.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.99. The company has a market capitalization of $59.37 billion, a PE ratio of 27.97, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.75.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.48 by ($0.27). Targa Resources had a net margin of 12.87% and a return on equity of 71.00%. The company had revenue of $4.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.68 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 10.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This is a boost from Targa Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Targa Resources's dividend payout ratio is 50.56%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TRGP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report).

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.