Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes Position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 230,935 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,222,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in TRGP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Targa Resources during the third quarter worth $35,000. Aspect Partners LLC increased its holdings in Targa Resources by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in Targa Resources by 49.4% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 269 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Targa Resources during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Targa Resources by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 374 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Matthew J. Meloy sold 48,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.08, for a total transaction of $9,527,121.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 725,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141,555,510.24. This represents a 6.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Waters S. Iv Davis sold 2,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.26, for a total transaction of $429,809.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $568,957.74. This represents a 43.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 115,914 shares of company stock valued at $22,613,288 over the last quarter. 1.39% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Targa Resources Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of Targa Resources stock opened at $201.02 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $197.95 and a 200-day moving average of $178.09. The stock has a market cap of $43.84 billion, a PE ratio of 35.02, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.29. Targa Resources Corp. has a 52-week low of $97.29 and a 52-week high of $218.51. 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 (NYSE:TRGP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.46). The business had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.48 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 28.67%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Targa Resources Corp. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on TRGP. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $190.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Mizuho boosted their target price 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. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $218.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $172.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $205.43.

Targa Resources 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.