Jennison Associates LLC Sells 25,644 Shares of Archrock, Inc. $AROC

Jennison Associates LLC lessened its position in shares of Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) by 53.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,637 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 25,644 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Archrock were worth $589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in Archrock by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 92,768 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,414,000 after purchasing an additional 7,549 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Archrock during the 4th quarter worth about $89,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in Archrock by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 27,295 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 3,494 shares in the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC bought a new position in Archrock during the 4th quarter worth about $2,156,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Archrock by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 59,009 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,535,000 after purchasing an additional 1,647 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.45% of the company’s stock.

Archrock Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:AROC opened at $38.83 on Tuesday. Archrock, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.17 and a 52-week high of $39.70. The company has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.73. 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) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The energy company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.29. Archrock had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 23.57%. The business had revenue of $377.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $378.04 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. Archrock’s revenue was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Archrock, Inc. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Archrock Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. Archrock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AROC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Archrock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Archrock from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Archrock from $31.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Archrock in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Archrock from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Donna A. Henderson sold 10,413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were 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 directly owned 27,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,019,792.18. This trade represents a 27.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Doug S. Aron sold 98,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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. Insiders sold a total of 179,963 shares of company stock valued at $6,336,907 over the last quarter. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Archrock Profile

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.