Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 7,654 Shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP - Free Report) by 23.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,353 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,654 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $7,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Buckley Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 0.7% during the third quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,925 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,469,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Targa Resources by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,685 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in Targa Resources by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 934 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Targa Resources by 4.0% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,172 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in Targa Resources by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 478 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Targa Resources Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE TRGP traded up $2.28 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $205.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,021,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,503,050. The stock has a market cap of $44.73 billion, a PE ratio of 37.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 2.30. Targa Resources Corp. has a one year low of $84.33 and a one year high of $218.51. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $193.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $167.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $1.75 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $4.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Targa Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 54.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 3,260 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,703,175.82. The trade was a 8.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 30,000 shares of the company'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 approximately $15,793,393.07. This trade represents a 26.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.39% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on TRGP. Barclays upped their target price on 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 price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $173.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Targa Resources from $190.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Targa Resources from $190.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Targa Resources currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $189.21.

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.