Vanguard Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in APA Corporation $APA

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its position in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 44,026,441 shares of the company’s stock after selling 749,231 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of APA worth $1,068,962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of APA. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in APA by 157.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,060,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,869,891 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of APA by 7,627.3% in the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,013,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,608,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,400 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of APA by 160.5% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 336,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,165,000 after acquiring an additional 892,438 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in APA by 43.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,668,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,092,000 after acquiring an additional 806,252 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in APA by 528.8% during the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 681,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,466,000 after acquiring an additional 573,193 shares in the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on APA. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of APA in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of APA in a report on Monday, December 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on APA from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on APA from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on APA from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.39.

APA Price Performance

Shares of APA opened at $29.06 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $25.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. APA Corporation has a twelve month low of $13.58 and a twelve month high of $30.08. The company has a market cap of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.28 and a beta of 0.74.

APA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.04%.

About APA

APA Corporation (NASDAQ: APA) is an independent exploration and production company engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas resources. The company operates through three core regions: the United States, Egypt and the North Sea. Through its integrated approach, APA combines geological and geophysical expertise with technical innovation to identify and develop hydrocarbons in both onshore and offshore settings.

In the United States, APA’s largest position is in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it holds substantial acreage dedicated to oil-focused drilling and production.