Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 47,499 Shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its holdings in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 15.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 254,803 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 47,499 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.12% of Targa Resources worth $45,482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Targa Resources during the fourth quarter valued at about $309,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 28,954 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $5,168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,708 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 875,189 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $168,019,000 after purchasing an additional 30,904 shares during the period. Dorsey Wright & Associates grew its position in Targa Resources by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 45,047 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $8,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Targa Resources by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 847,138 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $151,214,000 after purchasing an additional 50,284 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.13% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 82,139 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,206,024.70. This represents a 29.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,887 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 227,269 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,731,100.98. This represents a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 115,914 shares of company stock worth $22,613,288 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.39% of the company's stock.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

TRGP stock traded down $8.67 during trading on Thursday, reaching $164.98. 774,828 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,713,028. Targa Resources Corp. has a twelve month low of $110.09 and a twelve month high of $218.51. The company has a market capitalization of $35.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.75. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $186.73. 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 (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.46). The firm had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.48 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 28.67% and a net margin of 7.81%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Targa Resources Corp. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Targa Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on TRGP shares. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $218.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Targa Resources from $220.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Targa Resources from $211.00 to $206.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.64.

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.