Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $2.75 Million Stock Holdings in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,208 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 1,102 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Targa Resources were worth $2,752,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of TRGP. PDS Planning Inc bought a new stake in Targa Resources during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Targa Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $307,000. Cozad Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Targa Resources in the fourth quarter worth $341,000. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC increased its position in Targa Resources by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC now owns 9,955 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,777,000 after acquiring an additional 1,701 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Targa Resources by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,802 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $857,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. 92.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on TRGP. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Targa Resources from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. Barclays raised their price objective on Targa Resources from $204.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Targa Resources from $208.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Targa Resources from $220.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $211.00.

Insider Transactions at Targa Resources

In other news, insider Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.42, for a total transaction of $5,750,856.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 227,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,731,100.98. This represents a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Matthew J. Meloy sold 48,837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.08, for a total transaction of $9,527,121.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 725,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,555,510.24. This represents a 6.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 115,914 shares of company stock worth $22,613,288. Insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Targa Resources Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Targa Resources stock opened at $198.97 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.32. Targa Resources Corp. has a 12-month low of $110.09 and a 12-month high of $218.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.39.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.46). The firm had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.48 billion. Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 28.67%. Research analysts expect that Targa Resources Corp. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.26%.

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.