California Public Employees Retirement System Has $16.88 Million Stock Holdings in Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Antero Resources Co. (NYSE:AR) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 481,594 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 20,078 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Antero Resources were worth $16,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in Antero Resources by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 59,482 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,085,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group grew its position in Antero Resources by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 16,597 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in Antero Resources by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 58,401 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,047,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Antero Resources by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 5,323 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Antero Resources by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,064 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. 83.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director W Howard Keenan, Jr. sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 1,800,000 shares in the company, valued at $71,568,000. This trade represents a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Antero Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Williams Trading set a $48.00 target price on shares of Antero Resources in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Antero Resources from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Antero Resources from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Antero Resources to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Antero Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.24.

Antero Resources Trading Down 13.8 %

AR opened at $33.43 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $38.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.96. The firm has a market cap of $10.40 billion, a PE ratio of 104.47 and a beta of 3.38. Antero Resources Co. has a twelve month low of $24.53 and a twelve month high of $42.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35.

Antero Resources (NYSE:AR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.14. Antero Resources had a return on equity of 0.74% and a net margin of 2.31%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Antero Resources Co. will post 2.74 EPS 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.