APA Corporation $APA Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 11.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 476,998 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,619 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in APA were worth $20,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of APA. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of APA during 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 worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the period. Camelot Portfolios LLC purchased a new position in APA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in APA in the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in APA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on APA shares. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of APA from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of APA from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of APA from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of APA from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Capital One Financial boosted their price objective on shares of APA from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, APA has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.35.

APA Price Performance

APA stock opened at $35.77 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $35.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.74. APA Corporation has a 52-week low of $17.86 and a 52-week high of $45.66. The company has a market capitalization of $12.64 billion, a PE ratio of 8.34 and a beta of 0.35. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 EPS 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 company had revenue of $2.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that APA Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other APA news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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.