Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 3,173 Shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 44.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,968 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 3,173 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.'s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $587,000 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. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in Targa Resources during the second quarter worth $72,345,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Targa Resources by 239.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 791,095 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $101,877,000 after acquiring an additional 557,832 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Targa Resources by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,303,522 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $296,647,000 after purchasing an additional 271,444 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in Targa Resources by 599.1% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 287,950 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $42,619,000 after purchasing an additional 246,762 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Targa Resources by 14,163.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 204,254 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $30,232,000 after buying an additional 202,822 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.13% of the company's stock.

Targa Resources Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:TRGP traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $186.76. 631,851 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,650,394. The company has a market capitalization of $40.72 billion, a PE ratio of 33.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 2.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.77. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $179.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $150.78. Targa Resources Corp. has a 52-week low of $81.03 and a 52-week high of $209.87.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. As a group, research analysts predict that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Targa Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 30,000 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.33, for a total value of $5,709,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 82,979 shares in the company, valued at $15,793,393.07. This trade represents a 26.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 3,260 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.74, for a total transaction of $621,812.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 35,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,703,175.82. The trade was a 8.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 183,260 shares of company stock valued at $29,661,212 over the last ninety days. 1.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TRGP has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on Targa Resources from $182.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Argus upgraded Targa Resources to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target 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, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Targa Resources from $173.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Targa Resources presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $176.50.

Targa Resources Company 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.