APA Corporation $APA Shares Sold by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council cut its holdings in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 26.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 597,035 shares of the company’s stock after selling 210,124 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council owned approximately 0.17% of APA worth $25,338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its stake in APA by 36.7% in the 1st quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in APA by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 106,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,609,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its position in APA by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $689,000 after buying an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its holdings in shares of APA by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 14,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of APA by 520.8% in the first quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 596 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at APA

In other news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total transaction of $392,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 66,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,675,072.40. This represents a 12.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

APA Price Performance

APA stock opened at $36.70 on Thursday. APA Corporation has a 52-week low of $17.86 and a 52-week high of $45.66. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55 and a beta of 0.35.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.27. APA had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 17.38%.The firm had revenue of $2.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that APA Corporation will post 4.92 EPS for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. APA’s payout ratio is 23.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on APA from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of APA from $38.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of APA from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of APA from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of APA from $29.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.35.

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.