Meeder Asset Management Inc. Takes Position in Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR)

Key Points

• Meeder Asset Management Inc. invested approximately $378,000 to acquire 9,341 shares in Antero Resources Corporation during the first quarter, as revealed in a recent SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors are increasing their stakes in Antero Resources, with LPL Financial leading with a staggering 486% increase in its holdings in the fourth quarter.
• Antero Resources reported strong earnings, posting a net revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and achieving an EPS of $0.78, beating estimates by $0.10.

Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 9,341 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock, valued at approximately $378,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AR. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Antero Resources by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,661,491 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $689,135,000 after acquiring an additional 2,201,429 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Antero Resources by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,829,263 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $414,628,000 after buying an additional 1,274,760 shares during the last quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Antero Resources by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC now owns 6,355,724 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $222,768,000 after acquiring an additional 231,068 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Antero Resources by 133.1% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,743,957 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $151,406,000 after acquiring an additional 2,137,538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Antero Resources by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,851,355 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $99,940,000 after acquiring an additional 186,727 shares during the period. 83.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AR shares. TD Cowen raised shares of Antero Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $40.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Antero Resources from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Antero Resources from $46.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $39.00 target price on Antero Resources and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.18.

Antero Resources Trading Down 3.6%

NYSE AR traded down $1.26 during trading on Friday, hitting $33.67. 6,071,220 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,142,149. The firm has a market cap of $10.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.45 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39. Antero Resources Corporation has a 12-month low of $24.53 and a 12-month high of $44.01.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.33). Antero Resources had a return on equity of 6.53% and a net margin of 10.13%. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.21) earnings per share. Antero Resources's revenue for the quarter was up 32.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Antero Resources Corporation will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Antero Resources

In other Antero Resources news, Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 38,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.32, for a total value of $1,532,684.16. Following the transaction, the director owned 364,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,716,477.44. The trade was a 9.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 value of $1,004,472.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 306,819 shares in the company, valued at $12,229,805.34. This trade represents 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 valued at $45,887,466 in the last three months. 6.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.