Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) Shares Purchased by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 581,100 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after buying an additional 4,700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Antero Resources were worth $20,368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AR. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Antero Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $140,020,000. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its position in Antero Resources by 537.2% in the third quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 954,685 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $27,352,000 after purchasing an additional 804,851 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Antero Resources by 4.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,460,062 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $500,231,000 after purchasing an additional 675,053 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in Antero Resources by 117.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,132,725 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $42,885,000 after purchasing an additional 612,997 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Antero Resources by 43.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 745,770 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $26,139,000 after purchasing an additional 224,700 shares during the period. 83.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Antero Resources

In other news, Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.76, for a total transaction of $7,952,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,800,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,568,000. This represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 6.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AR. Barclays boosted their target price on Antero Resources from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Antero Resources in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Antero Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Antero Resources from $28.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Antero Resources from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Antero Resources currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.47.

Antero Resources Stock Performance

NYSE AR opened at $39.82 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35. Antero Resources Co. has a 1 year low of $24.53 and a 1 year high of $41.53. The company has a market capitalization of $12.39 billion, a PE ratio of 124.43 and a beta of 3.38. The company has a fifty day moving average of $38.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.78.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.14. Antero Resources had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 0.74%. As a group, analysts expect that Antero Resources Co. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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.