ING Groep NV Trims Stake in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

ING Groep NV decreased its position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 78.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,300 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 107,935 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV's holdings in Targa Resources were worth $4,337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 25,569 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,784,000 after acquiring an additional 2,890 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 44.1% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 6,600 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,021 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Targa Resources by 22.9% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 478 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Targa Resources by 183.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 43,581 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $6,451,000 after purchasing an additional 28,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freemont Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 335.3% during the 3rd quarter. Freemont Management S.A. now owns 22,200 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,286,000 after buying an additional 17,100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company's stock.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:TRGP traded up $4.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $196.04. The stock had a trading volume of 1,376,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,648,823. Targa Resources Corp. has a twelve month low of $81.03 and a twelve month high of $197.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.45, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 2.24. 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 results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.17. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 27.59% and a net margin of 7.65%. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Targa Resources's payout ratio is currently 54.25%.

Insider Transactions at Targa Resources

In other news, Director Joe Bob Perkins sold 150,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.53, for a total value of $23,329,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 110,470 shares in the company, valued at $17,181,399.10. This trade represents a 57.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 82,979 shares in the company, valued at $15,793,393.07. This represents a 26.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 185,760 shares of company stock valued at $30,026,712 in the last ninety days. 1.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on TRGP shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $153.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America assumed 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. Argus raised Targa Resources to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Targa Resources from $172.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Targa Resources from $182.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $169.79.

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.