Virtu Financial LLC Cuts Stock Position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Virtu Financial LLC decreased its position in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 72.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,367 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 6,080 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 34,433 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,146,000 after acquiring an additional 6,464 shares in the last quarter. Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. now owns 83,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $14,869,000 after purchasing an additional 24,400 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Targa Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $136,000. Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in Targa Resources during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,403,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the fourth quarter worth $25,035,000. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,887 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.42, for a total value of $5,750,856.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 227,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,731,100.98. The trade was a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.30, for a total value of $6,905,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 82,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,206,024.70. The trade was a 29.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 115,914 shares of company stock valued at $22,613,288. 1.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Targa Resources Stock Down 1.8 %

TRGP opened at $201.91 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $199.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.77. Targa Resources Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $110.09 and a fifty-two week high of $218.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.32.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.46). Targa Resources had a return on equity of 28.67% and a net margin of 7.81%. The business had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.48 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Targa Resources Corp. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on TRGP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Targa Resources from $220.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Targa Resources from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Barclays upped their target price on Targa Resources from $204.00 to $211.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $208.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $211.00.

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.