Verition Fund Management LLC Raises Holdings in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 12.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 114,797 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 12,302 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $16,991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 213.8% during the 3rd quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC now owns 50,365 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $7,455,000 after acquiring an additional 34,317 shares in the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its stake in Targa Resources by 6.9% during the third quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 2,050 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Targa Resources during the third quarter valued at $1,374,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,331,503 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $197,076,000 after buying an additional 14,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Targa Resources by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 41,852 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,195,000 after buying an additional 8,848 shares in the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on TRGP shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Targa Resources from $153.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on Targa Resources from $155.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Targa Resources from $173.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $182.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, US Capital Advisors lowered shares of Targa Resources from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $176.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joe Bob Perkins sold 150,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.53, for a total transaction of $23,329,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 110,470 shares in the company, valued at $17,181,399.10. This represents a 57.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Robert Muraro sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.20, for a total value of $365,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 174,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,504,736.20. The trade was a 1.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 185,760 shares of company stock worth $30,026,712 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TRGP opened at $204.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $44.55 billion, a PE ratio of 36.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.24. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.03. Targa Resources Corp. has a one year low of $81.03 and a one year high of $209.87.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.75 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.28 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.25%.

Targa Resources Company Profile

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.