Vanguard Group Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 6.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,339,216 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,281,273 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.13% of APA worth $953,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of APA. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of APA by 2,709.8% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,382 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of APA by 499.2% in the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,288 shares in the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of APA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of APA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of APA by 122.5% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares in the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on APA. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on APA from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Citigroup lifted their price target on APA from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on APA from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Mizuho decreased their target price on APA from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their target price on APA from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, APA currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.59.

APA Stock Performance

NASDAQ APA opened at $19.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $19.21 and a 200-day moving average of $19.02. APA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $13.58 and a fifty-two week high of $29.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. APA had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 10.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that APA Corporation will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.44%.

APA Profile

APA Corporation, an independent energy company, explores for, develops, and produces natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids. It has oil and gas operations in the United States, Egypt, and North Sea. The company also has exploration and appraisal activities in Suriname, as well as holds interests in projects located in Uruguay and internationally.