Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) Shares Bought by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 116.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 162,236 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 87,395 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.07% of Targa Resources worth $28,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Targa Resources by 4.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,106,591 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,235,927,000 after acquiring an additional 633,589 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in Targa Resources during the second quarter valued at $72,345,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 75.4% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 604,112 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $89,413,000 after buying an additional 259,776 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 599.1% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 287,950 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $42,619,000 after acquiring an additional 246,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Targa Resources by 14,163.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 204,254 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $30,232,000 after acquiring an additional 202,822 shares in the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

Targa Resources stock traded up $3.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $216.00. 1,851,473 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,554,202. Targa Resources Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $81.03 and a fifty-two week high of $217.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.10 billion, a PE ratio of 39.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 2.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.49. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.24 billion. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 27.59% and a net margin of 7.65%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Targa Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TRGP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $172.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barclays increased their price target on Targa Resources from $171.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $173.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $190.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Targa Resources in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $182.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $189.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 3,260 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.74, for a total value of $621,812.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 35,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,703,175.82. The trade was a 8.49 % 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, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.33, for a total transaction of $5,709,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 82,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,793,393.07. This trade represents a 26.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.