Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Acquires 56,561 Shares of Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR - Free Report) by 53.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 161,912 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 56,561 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.05% of Antero Resources worth $5,675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Antero Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in Antero Resources by 205.2% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,358 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 913 shares during the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Antero Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Antero Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Antero Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Institutional investors own 83.04% of the company's stock.

Antero Resources Stock Performance

NYSE AR traded up $1.16 during trading on Monday, reaching $38.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,664,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,203,321. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $36.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.44. Antero Resources Co. has a 12 month low of $24.53 and a 12 month high of $42.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 120.65 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Antero Resources had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 0.74%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Antero Resources Co. will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AR shares. TD Cowen raised Antero Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Antero Resources to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Williams Trading set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Antero Resources in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Antero Resources from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Antero Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Antero Resources currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Antero Resources news, Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 1,061,987 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.82, for a total value of $43,350,309.34. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,551,690.66. This trade represents a 96.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Yvette K. Schultz sold 25,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.86, for a total transaction of $1,004,472.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 306,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,229,805.34. The trade was a 7.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,125,200 shares of company stock worth $45,887,466 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.70% of the company's stock.

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.