KBC Group NV Acquires 9,101 Shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

KBC Group NV lifted its position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 20.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,682 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 9,101 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Targa Resources were worth $9,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Targa Resources during the fourth quarter worth $2,200,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Targa Resources by 54.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,034 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $720,000 after acquiring an additional 1,423 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Targa Resources during the fourth quarter worth approximately $237,000. Affinity Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 117.4% in the 4th quarter. Affinity Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,341 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $953,000 after purchasing an additional 2,884 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of Targa Resources in the fourth quarter valued at about $207,000. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on TRGP shares. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Targa Resources in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $218.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $171.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $173.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Targa Resources from $172.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Targa Resources has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $189.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 3,260 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 35,143 shares in the company, valued at $6,703,175.82. This represents a 8.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 transaction, 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. Corporate insiders own 1.39% of the company's stock.

Targa Resources Trading Up 0.9 %

TRGP stock traded up $1.74 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $204.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 507,239 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,472,670. 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 Corp. has a 12 month low of $84.33 and a 12 month high of $218.51. The business's 50 day moving average price is $193.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.94. The company has a market cap of $44.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 2.30.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.17. Targa Resources had a return on equity of 27.59% and a net margin of 7.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. Targa Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.25%.

Targa Resources 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.