Sicart Associates LLC Cuts Holdings in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Sicart Associates LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,027 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,324 shares during the quarter. Targa Resources accounts for 3.4% of Sicart Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Sicart Associates LLC’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $9,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in Targa Resources by 65.1% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 25,615 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,791,000 after acquiring an additional 10,100 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP purchased a new stake in shares of Targa Resources in the 2nd quarter worth $2,323,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 85.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 28,530 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,070,000 after buying an additional 13,167 shares during the period. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Targa Resources in the 3rd quarter worth $11,042,000. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 25,569 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,784,000 after buying an additional 2,890 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value of $5,709,900.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 stock was 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. The trade was a 8.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.44% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE:TRGP opened at $212.51 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $191.09 and its 200 day moving average is $162.91. Targa Resources Corp. has a 1 year low of $81.03 and a 1 year high of $212.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 2.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Targa Resources Corp. will post 6.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on TRGP. UBS Group upped their target price on Targa Resources from $182.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Scotiabank began coverage on Targa Resources in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $218.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Targa Resources from $190.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Targa Resources from $172.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $189.21.

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.