Hilton Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Hilton Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,835 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 126 shares during the quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $864,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TRGP. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in shares of Targa Resources during the second quarter worth about $72,345,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Targa Resources by 239.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 791,095 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $101,877,000 after acquiring an additional 557,832 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 26.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,738,721 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $194,720,000 after purchasing an additional 360,675 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Targa Resources by 13.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,303,522 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $296,647,000 after purchasing an additional 271,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blackstone Inc. increased its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 9,695,457 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,085,794,000 after acquiring an additional 252,729 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $190.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their target price on Targa Resources from $155.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Targa Resources from $147.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America began coverage on Targa Resources in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $182.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Argus raised shares of Targa Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $176.50.

Targa Resources Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE TRGP opened at $202.79 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $44.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.67, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 2.24. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $165.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. Targa Resources Corp. has a 52 week low of $81.03 and a 52 week high of $205.20.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.24 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.65% and a return on equity of 27.59%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.25%.

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.