Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Makes New $159,000 Investment in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,071 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $159,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Targa Resources in the second quarter worth about $29,000. DT Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 2,220.0% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 232 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new stake in Targa Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in Targa Resources during the second quarter worth approximately $69,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on TRGP shares. Argus raised Targa Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Targa Resources from $128.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Targa Resources from $173.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Targa Resources from $172.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $155.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $159.14.

Targa Resources Stock Down 0.3 %

TRGP stock opened at $194.31 on Wednesday. Targa Resources Corp. has a 12-month low of $81.03 and a 12-month high of $197.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. The company has a market cap of $42.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.25, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 2.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $159.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.94.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.17. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 27.59% and a net margin of 7.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is presently 54.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Targa Resources

In other news, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 3,260 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.74, for a total transaction of $621,812.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 35,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,703,175.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 3,260 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.74, for a total value of $621,812.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 35,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,703,175.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.33, for a total value of $5,709,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 82,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,793,393.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 185,760 shares of company stock worth $30,026,712 over the last ninety days. 1.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.