Estate Counselors LLC Acquires Shares of 55,887 APA Corporation $APA

Estate Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 55,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,372,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of APA by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 106,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in APA by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $689,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its holdings in APA by 3.2% in the 4th 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 period. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its holdings in APA by 520.8% in the 1st quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 596 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in APA by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 130,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,201,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Stock Down 3.9%

NASDAQ:APA opened at $34.74 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of $12.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.10 and a beta of 0.35. APA Corporation has a one year low of $17.86 and a one year high of $45.66. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.06.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. APA’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that APA Corporation will post 4.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders 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 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 22nd. APA’s payout ratio is 23.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total transaction of $392,392.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 66,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of APA from $21.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of APA from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of APA from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of APA from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on shares of APA from $57.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 13th. Eight 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.35.

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.