Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 1,055,016 Shares of APA Corporation $APA

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 6.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,376,952 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,055,016 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in APA were worth $695,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in APA. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of APA during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Summit Securities Group LLC increased its holdings in APA by 115.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new stake in APA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in APA in the first quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in APA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

APA Price Performance

APA stock opened at $35.22 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.59. APA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.86 and a fifty-two week high of $45.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $12.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 0.35.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that APA Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total value of $392,392.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 66,810 shares in the company, valued at $2,675,072.40. This trade represents a 12.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on APA. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on APA from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of APA from $44.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of APA from $38.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of APA from $21.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of APA from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.42.

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.