Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Acquires New Position in Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 13,300 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock, valued at approximately $538,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AR. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Antero Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $140,020,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Antero Resources by 12.6% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 2,201,429 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake 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 valued at $151,406,000 after purchasing an additional 2,137,538 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new position in Antero Resources in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,980,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in 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. 83.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Antero Resources

In other news, Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 38,013 shares of Antero Resources stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.32, for a total transaction of $1,532,684.16. Following the sale, the director directly owned 364,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,716,477.44. The trade was a 9.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Yvette K. Schultz sold 25,200 shares of Antero Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.86, for a total value of $1,004,472.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 306,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,125,200 shares of company stock worth $45,887,466. Corporate insiders own 6.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Antero Resources in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Antero Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Antero Resources from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Antero Resources from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Antero Resources from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $49.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. One equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.22.

Antero Resources Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of AR traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.31. 3,664,858 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,344,453. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.72. The company has a market cap of $11.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.38 and a beta of 0.68. Antero Resources Corporation has a 1-year low of $24.53 and a 1-year high of $44.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.28 billion. Antero Resources had a return on equity of 4.01% and a net margin of 5.96%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 20.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.12 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Antero Resources Corporation will post 2.74 earnings per share 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.