Great Lakes Advisors LLC Sells 13,264 Shares of Targa Resources, Inc. $TRGP

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lowered its position in Targa Resources, Inc. (NYSE:TRGP) by 38.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,847 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 13,264 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $3,493,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peoples Financial Services CORP. acquired a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Targa Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Avion Wealth raised its holdings in Targa Resources by 475.0% during the 3rd quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 276 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in Targa Resources in the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Targa Resources

In other Targa Resources news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.21, for a total value of $3,444,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 22,139 shares in the company, valued at $3,812,557.19. This trade represents a 47.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Gerald R. Shrader sold 2,750 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.21, for a total transaction of $498,327.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 29,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,356,748.81. This trade represents a 8.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 1.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, January 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $213.00 target price on Targa Resources in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Targa Resources from $213.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut Targa Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $266.00 target price on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $213.50.

Targa Resources Price Performance

NYSE:TRGP opened at $201.10 on Friday. Targa Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.14 and a 52-week high of $211.87. The company has a market cap of $43.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.91, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.22.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 51.87%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Targa Resources, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is presently 53.19%.

Targa Resources 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.