APA Corporation $APA Shares Sold by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC lessened its stake in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 61.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 264,144 shares of the company’s stock after selling 423,585 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in APA were worth $11,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its position in APA by 520.8% during the first quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 596 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new position in APA in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Summit Securities Group LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new position in APA in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of APA in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Price Performance

Shares of APA opened at $36.33 on Friday. APA Corporation has a 1-year low of $17.86 and a 1-year high of $45.66. The stock has a market cap of $12.84 billion, a PE ratio of 8.47 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.30. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $2.33 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that APA Corporation will post 4.92 EPS for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is 23.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on APA shares. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of APA from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on APA from $38.00 to $41.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on APA from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on APA from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Capital One Financial raised their target price on APA from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.35.

Insider Activity at APA

In other news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.