Arizona State Retirement System Sells 1,413 Shares of Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR)

Arizona State Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,772 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 1,413 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Antero Resources were worth $1,809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PointState Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Antero Resources in the 1st quarter valued at about $126,793,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Antero Resources by 55.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,881,657 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $200,036,000 after purchasing an additional 2,814,127 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Antero Resources by 66.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,323,092 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $193,043,000 after purchasing an additional 2,517,137 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Antero Resources by 83.8% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,293,239 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $122,221,000 after buying an additional 2,414,100 shares during the period. Finally, Palo Duro Investment Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Antero Resources in the 1st quarter valued at $45,267,000. Institutional investors own 83.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Antero Resources from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. upgraded shares of Antero Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Benchmark cut Antero Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Barclays initiated coverage on Antero Resources in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Antero Resources from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 232,293 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.85, for a total transaction of $6,004,774.05. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,000,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,550,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Sheri Pearce sold 28,009 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total transaction of $736,356.61. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 106,698 shares in the company, valued at $2,805,090.42. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 232,293 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.85, for a total value of $6,004,774.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,000,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,550,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 467,280 shares of company stock worth $12,153,605. Company insiders own 5.95% of the company’s stock.

Antero Resources Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE AR opened at $29.78 on Friday. Antero Resources Co. has a 12 month low of $19.91 and a 12 month high of $30.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $26.10 and a 200-day moving average of $25.10. The company has a market cap of $9.04 billion, a PE ratio of 38.68 and a beta of 3.30.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Antero Resources had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 2.10%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Antero Resources Co. will post 0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Antero Resources

Antero Resources Corporation, an independent oil and natural gas company, engages in the development, production, exploration, and acquisition of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and oil properties in the United States. It operates in three segments: Exploration and Development; Marketing; and Equity Method Investment in Antero Midstream.