Merit Financial Group LLC Has $1.22 Million Stock Position in APA Corporation $APA

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 101.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 37,478 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 18,885 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in APA were worth $1,221,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of APA. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of APA by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 33,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $700,000 after purchasing an additional 2,070 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of APA by 49.6% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 3,578 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of APA by 43.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,668,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,092,000 after buying an additional 806,252 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in shares of APA by 10.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 44,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $942,000 after buying an additional 4,297 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in APA during the second quarter worth about $5,199,000. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

APA Price Performance

Shares of APA stock opened at $39.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.06. APA Corporation has a twelve month low of $19.96 and a twelve month high of $45.66. The firm has a market cap of $14.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.45 and a beta of 0.35.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). APA had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 24.84%. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that APA Corporation will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on APA. UBS Group lowered their price target on APA from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Roth Capital set a $39.00 price objective on APA in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on APA from $44.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 26th. Benchmark boosted their price objective on APA from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on APA from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total value of $392,392.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 66,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,675,072.40. This represents a 12.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

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.