KBC Group NV Raises Stock Holdings in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

KBC Group NV lifted its position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 183.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,581 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 28,225 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Targa Resources were worth $6,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Targa Resources by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,015,992 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,025,521,000 after purchasing an additional 201,817 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP bought a new position in Targa Resources during the second quarter worth $2,323,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Targa Resources by 215.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,052 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,478,000 after purchasing an additional 21,200 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Targa Resources by 6.5% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 444,530 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $49,783,000 after purchasing an additional 27,164 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Targa Resources during the first quarter worth $1,151,000. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Targa Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:TRGP traded up $2.96 during trading on Monday, reaching $199.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,238,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,646,997. 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 firm has a market cap of $43.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 2.24. Targa Resources Corp. has a 12 month low of $81.03 and a 12 month high of $199.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $163.51 and a 200-day moving average of $141.15.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.75 earnings per share 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 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. Research analysts expect that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.23 EPS 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 paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. Targa Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 54.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.33, for a total value 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. The trade was a 26.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert Muraro sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.20, for a total value of $365,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 174,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,504,736.20. The trade was a 1.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 185,760 shares of company stock worth $30,026,712. 1.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on TRGP shares. Argus raised Targa Resources to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Targa Resources from $172.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Targa Resources from $173.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Targa Resources from $153.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Targa Resources from $147.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Targa Resources currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average 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.