Entropy Technologies LP Takes $3.04 Million Position in APA Corporation $APA

Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 71,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,037,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in APA by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,376,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $695,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055,016 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of APA by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,710,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $359,807,000 after purchasing an additional 285,542 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of APA by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,425,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,010,000 after purchasing an additional 1,864,900 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of APA by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,171,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,426,000 after buying an additional 3,117,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of APA by 1,726.2% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,834,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,176,000 after buying an additional 4,569,779 shares in the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on APA shares. Susquehanna cut their price target on APA from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of APA from $43.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Zacks Research cut shares of APA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of APA from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.35.

APA Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of APA stock opened at $36.15 on Friday. APA Corporation has a 1 year low of $17.86 and a 1 year high of $45.66. The business has a 50-day moving average of $35.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.91. The company has a market capitalization of $12.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.43 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. APA’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that APA Corporation will post 4.92 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. APA’s payout ratio is presently 23.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at APA

In other news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the company’s 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 owned 66,810 shares in the company, valued at $2,675,072.40. This represents a 12.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

APA 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.