W Howard Keenan, Jr. Sells 100,000 Shares of Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) Stock

Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.53, for a total value of $3,453,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,900,000 shares in the company, valued at $100,137,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Antero Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AR traded up $0.38 on Thursday, reaching $34.40. 3,032,737 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,924,525. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a PE ratio of 170.08 and a beta of 3.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company’s 50 day moving average is $29.23 and its 200-day moving average is $25.79. Antero Resources Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.91 and a fifty-two week high of $34.99.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.04. Antero Resources had a return on equity of 0.18% and a net margin of 1.50%. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Antero Resources Co. will post 0.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Antero Resources from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Antero Resources from $35.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Antero Resources from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Benchmark downgraded Antero Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Antero Resources from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Antero Resources presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.08.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Antero Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AR. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Antero Resources by 55.5% during 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Antero Resources by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,659,033 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $128,352,000 after buying an additional 1,253,510 shares during the period. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT purchased a new position in shares of Antero Resources during the 1st quarter valued at $35,734,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Antero Resources by 34.5% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,826,549 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $97,118,000 after acquiring an additional 982,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Antero Resources during the 1st quarter worth about $25,288,000. 83.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.