Baer Investment Advisory LLC Buys Shares of 20,403 APA Corporation $APA

Baer Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 20,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $866,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in APA. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in APA by 76.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,171,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,426,000 after purchasing an additional 3,117,032 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in APA by 157.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,060,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,970,000 after buying an additional 1,869,891 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in APA by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,425,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,010,000 after buying an additional 1,864,900 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,321,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,786,000 after acquiring an additional 1,291,706 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 29.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,462,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,349,000 after acquiring an additional 1,018,326 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on APA shares. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of APA from $37.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Zacks Research lowered shares of APA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of APA from $43.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Capital One Financial raised their price target on shares of APA from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on APA from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, APA presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.88.

APA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APA opened at $32.36 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.54 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.84. APA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.86 and a fifty-two week high of $45.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $2.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. APA had a net margin of 17.38% and a return on equity of 20.70%. APA’s revenue was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.06 EPS. Equities analysts expect that APA Corporation will post 5.35 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total value of $392,392.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.