SG Americas Securities LLC Raises Stock Position in APA Corporation $APA

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 367,366 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,089 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in APA were worth $8,986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in APA by 157.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,060,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,970,000 after buying an additional 1,869,891 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in APA by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,030,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,657,000 after buying an additional 1,674,739 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of APA by 29.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,462,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,349,000 after acquiring an additional 1,018,326 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of APA by 7,627.3% during the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,013,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,608,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,400 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of APA by 148.6% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,398,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,954,000 after acquiring an additional 835,956 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on APA from $22.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday. Capital One Financial upped their price target on APA from $32.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on APA from $22.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Monday, March 9th. TD Cowen upgraded APA to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on APA from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at APA

In other news, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total transaction of $833,290.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $240,349.82. This trade represents a 77.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

APA Price Performance

APA stock opened at $43.74 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.68. The stock has a market cap of $15.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.96 and a beta of 0.67. APA Corporation has a 12-month low of $13.58 and a 12-month high of $45.66.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.29. APA had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 15.55%.The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. APA’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that APA Corporation will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.06%.

APA Company Profile

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.