Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) Holdings Decreased by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 203,161 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 24,663 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Antero Resources were worth $7,121,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in Antero Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $5,045,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Antero Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $84,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Antero Resources by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,685 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $480,000 after acquiring an additional 941 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Antero Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $386,000. Finally, Nokomis Capital L.L.C. raised its position in Antero Resources by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. Nokomis Capital L.L.C. now owns 166,900 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 42,145 shares in the last quarter. 83.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Antero Resources

In other news, Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.76, for a total transaction of $7,952,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,800,000 shares in the company, valued at $71,568,000. The trade was a 10.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,300,000 shares of company stock worth $52,834,994 over the last three months. 6.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on AR. Mizuho upgraded shares of Antero Resources from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Antero Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Antero Resources from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Antero Resources in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Antero Resources from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Antero Resources presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.72.

Antero Resources Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of AR stock opened at $39.75 on Friday. Antero Resources Co. has a 12 month low of $24.53 and a 12 month high of $42.63. The firm has a market cap of $12.34 billion, a PE ratio of 124.23 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $36.87 and a 200-day moving average of $35.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.10. Antero Resources had a return on equity of 0.74% and a net margin of 2.31%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Antero Resources Co. will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

Antero Resources Profile

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.