California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 409,681 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 14,377 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $35,589,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 111.2% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 397 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Targa Resources during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 124.4% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 534 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Targa Resources by 36.1% during the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 565 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Targa Resources by 77.5% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 850 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on TRGP. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $109.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $116.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $105.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $111.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Targa Resources

In other Targa Resources news, Director Joe Bob Perkins sold 33,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.67, for a total transaction of $3,262,666.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,754,434.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Targa Resources news, Director Joe Bob Perkins sold 33,405 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.67, for a total transaction of $3,262,666.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,754,434.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total transaction of $970,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 156,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,141,506. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 81,966 shares of company stock valued at $7,987,215 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Trading Down 0.7 %

Targa Resources stock opened at $116.86 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $108.36 and its 200-day moving average is $93.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.79. Targa Resources Corp. has a 1 year low of $67.36 and a 1 year high of $117.87. The company has a market cap of $26.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.84 and a beta of 2.21.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The pipeline company reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.26). Targa Resources had a return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 5.20%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.50 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Targa Resources Corp. will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. This is a positive change from Targa Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is presently 54.50%.

About Targa Resources

Targa Resources Corp., together with its subsidiary, Targa Resources Partners LP, owns, operates, acquires, and develops a portfolio of complementary domestic midstream infrastructure assets in North America. It operates in two segments, Gathering and Processing, and Logistics and Transportation. The company is involved in gathering, compressing, treating, processing, transporting, and selling natural gas; storing, fractionating, treating, transporting, and selling natural gas liquids (NGL) and NGL products, including services to liquefied petroleum gas exporters; and gathering, storing, terminaling, purchasing, and selling crude oil.