Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Raises Holdings in APA Corporation $APA

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 1,783.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 191,258 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 181,101 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in APA were worth $6,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APA. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of APA by 520.8% during the 1st quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 596 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in APA in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Summit Securities Group LLC raised its holdings in APA by 115.1% in the 4th quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 710 shares during the period. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new position in APA in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in APA in the first quarter valued at about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other APA 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 transaction of $392,392.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 66,810 shares in the company, valued at $2,675,072.40. This represents a 12.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

APA Stock Performance

NASDAQ APA opened at $40.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $14.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.46 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $35.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.16. APA Corporation has a 1-year low of $19.96 and a 1-year high of $45.66.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. APA had a return on equity of 24.84% and a net margin of 19.48%.During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that APA Corporation will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on APA shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of APA from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of APA from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of APA from $38.00 to $41.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. 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 report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their target price on APA from $57.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.30.

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.