O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Purchases 1,708 Shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,954 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 1,708 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $5,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Targa Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in Targa Resources by 394.6% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 183 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Aspect Partners LLC lifted its stake in Targa Resources by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in Targa Resources by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 269 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Targa Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRGP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $220.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $202.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Targa Resources from $218.00 to $210.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Mizuho upped their target price on Targa Resources from $208.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Targa Resources from $218.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.00.

Targa Resources Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Targa Resources stock opened at $205.86 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $198.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.23. Targa Resources Corp. has a 1 year low of $110.09 and a 1 year high of $218.51. The company has a market capitalization of $44.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.32.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted 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). Targa Resources had a return on equity of 28.67% and a net margin of 7.81%. The company had revenue of $4.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.48 billion. Research analysts forecast that Targa Resources Corp. will post 8.15 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Targa Resources’s payout ratio is 52.26%.

Insider Transactions at Targa Resources

In other Targa Resources news, CEO Matthew J. Meloy sold 48,837 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 725,628 shares in the company, valued at $141,555,510.24. This represents a 6.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,887 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.42, for a total transaction of $5,750,856.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 227,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,731,100.98. The trade was a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 115,914 shares of company stock worth $22,613,288. Company insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

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.