Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP Shares Bought by MUFG Securities EMEA plc

Key Points

• MUFG Securities EMEA plc boosted its Targa Resources stake by 113.6% in the fourth quarter, ending with 8,800 shares valued at about $1.62 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other investors holding 92.13% of Targa Resources shares; several large firms also increased their positions.
• Targa Resources recently traded up and continues to get mostly positive analyst coverage, but its latest earnings missed estimates on both EPS and revenue. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.25 per share from $1.00.

MUFG Securities EMEA plc raised its stake in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 113.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,800 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,681 shares during the period. MUFG Securities EMEA plc's holdings in Targa Resources were worth $1,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,382,289 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $4,755,169,000 after acquiring an additional 422,075 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,643,139 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,291,012,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620,253 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,867,345 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,078,497,000 after acquiring an additional 45,495 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $735,758,000. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,360,311 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $395,447,000 after acquiring an additional 212,887 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Targa Resources

In other Targa Resources news, insider Robert Muraro sold 24,589 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.34, for a total transaction of $5,934,309.26. Following the transaction, the insider owned 197,401 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,640,757.34. The trade was a 11.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 10,602 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.96, for a total value of $2,713,687.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 66,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,019,292.32. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on TRGP shares. Seaport Research Partners reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Monday, May 4th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $241.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday, February 20th. US Capital Advisors lowered Targa Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on Targa Resources from $228.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Targa Resources from $255.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $269.21.

Targa Resources Trading Up 1.7%

TRGP opened at $263.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $56.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.72. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.14 and a 52 week high of $280.00. The business's 50 day moving average is $251.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $217.12. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The pipeline company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.48 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $4.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.68 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 71.00% and a net margin of 12.87%. On average, research analysts predict that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 10.75 EPS 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. This is a positive change 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 is presently 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.

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