Investors Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Antero Resources (NYSE:AR)

Antero Resources Corporation (NYSE:AR) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors bought 98,352 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 620% compared to the typical daily volume of 13,660 put options.

Insider Activity at Antero Resources

In other Antero Resources news, insider Michael N. Kennedy sold 185,826 shares of Antero Resources stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.33, for a total value of $7,308,536.58. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,085,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,680,601.36. The trade was a 14.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Benjamin A. Hardesty sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $528,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 150,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,610,648. This represents a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 237,316 shares of company stock valued at $9,387,309. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Antero Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AR. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Antero Resources by 177.4% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,611,248 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $153,261,000 after acquiring an additional 2,309,388 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Antero Resources in the third quarter valued at about $77,294,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Antero Resources by 111.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,988,300 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $137,437,000 after acquiring an additional 2,099,755 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Antero Resources by 140.2% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,467,536 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $116,371,000 after acquiring an additional 2,023,828 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Antero Resources by 31.8% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,970,390 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $267,485,000 after acquiring an additional 1,922,977 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Antero Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Antero Resources from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Antero Resources from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Antero Resources from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of Antero Resources in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Antero Resources has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.06.

Antero Resources Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of AR opened at $34.02 on Tuesday. Antero Resources has a 52 week low of $29.10 and a 52 week high of $45.75. The firm has a market cap of $10.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 0.33. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40.

About Antero Resources

Antero Resources Corporation is an independent exploration and production company focused on the development of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and oil properties in the Appalachian Basin of the United States. The company’s operations target the Marcellus and Utica shales, where it applies advanced drilling and completion techniques to optimize recovery from its large acreage position. Antero’s portfolio encompasses significant reserves of ethane, propane and other NGLs, alongside dry gas volumes that are positioned to serve both domestic and export markets.

Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Antero Resources holds approximately 1.8 million net acres of leasehold interests across parts of West Virginia and Ohio.