Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Position in Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Key Points

• Vanguard Group trimmed its Archrock stake by 0.5% in Q4 to 19,559,131 shares, representing 11.15% ownership and about $508.9 million in value.
• Insiders sold 179,963 shares (~$6.34M) over the past three months, including CFO Doug S. Aron's 98,050‑share sale (~$3.41M), leaving insiders with 2.9% ownership.
• Operational and market update: Archrock beat Q4 EPS estimates ($0.69 vs. $0.40) with revenue up 15.5% year‑over‑year, declared a $0.22 quarterly dividend (2.3% yield), and analysts have lifted targets to a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $39.

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,559,131 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 104,534 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.15% of Archrock worth $508,929,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Archrock by 71.0% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 971 shares of the energy company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Archrock by 3.0% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 15,030 shares of the energy company's stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Archrock by 0.8% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 60,026 shares of the energy company's stock worth $1,579,000 after buying an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Archrock by 49.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the energy company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Archrock by 0.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 95,866 shares of the energy company's stock worth $2,514,000 after buying an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.45% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Archrock

In other news, CAO Donna A. Henderson sold 10,413 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.74, for a total value of $382,573.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 27,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,019,792.18. This represents a 27.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Doug S. Aron sold 98,050 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.76, for a total transaction of $3,408,218.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 484,337 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,835,554.12. This trade represents a 16.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 179,963 shares of company stock valued at $6,336,907. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Archrock Price Performance

Archrock stock opened at $38.83 on Tuesday. Archrock, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.17 and a 1 year high of $39.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.73. The company has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.22, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Archrock (NYSE:AROC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.29. Archrock had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 23.57%. The firm had revenue of $377.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $378.04 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. Archrock's revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Archrock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. Archrock's payout ratio is 48.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Archrock from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Archrock from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Archrock from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Archrock from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Archrock from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $39.00.

About Archrock

Archrock, Inc is a Houston‐based provider of natural gas compression services and equipment to the oil and gas industry in North America. Founded in 2004, the company supplies both short‐term rentals and long‐term contracts for compression solutions, serving upstream and midstream producers. Archrock's offerings include engineered compression systems, aftermarket parts, maintenance and field services designed to optimize wellhead and pipeline operations.

The company's core business activities focus on the design, manufacture, rental and sale of gas compression equipment.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AROC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.