APA Corporation $APA Stock: VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Decreases Position

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lessened its stake in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 29.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 116,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 47,500 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in APA were worth $4,819,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of APA. Two Sigma Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of APA in the second quarter worth approximately $835,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in shares of APA in the second quarter worth $1,468,000. Core Capital Management & Research inc. bought a new stake in APA during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,800,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in APA by 30.3% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 276,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,992,000 after buying an additional 64,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in APA during the 2nd quarter valued at $10,703,000. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on APA. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of APA from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Roth Capital set a $39.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of APA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of APA from $47.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of APA in a research note on Sunday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.76.

APA Price Performance

Shares of APA stock opened at $52.82 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $45.55 and its 200 day moving average is $37.58. The stock has a market cap of $18.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. APA Corporation has a twelve month low of $21.63 and a twelve month high of $52.96.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. APA had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 24.84%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that APA Corporation will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 22nd. APA’s payout ratio is currently 21.14%.

APA declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, September 16th that allows the company to buy back 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

APA Profile

APA Corporation is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s activities include identifying hydrocarbon resources, drilling and completing wells, operating producing properties, and managing related infrastructure.

APA’s principal producing areas include the Permian Basin in the United States and Egypt’s Western Desert, where it operates through joint ventures with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation.