Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Boosts Stock Holdings in APA Corporation $APA

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 51.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 329,068 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 111,204 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in APA were worth $13,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of APA. Sigma Planning Corp increased its holdings in APA by 7.5% during the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 18,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $770,000 after buying an additional 1,270 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in APA during the first quarter worth $233,000. Retirement Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in APA during the 1st quarter valued at $238,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. bought a new stake in APA during the 1st quarter valued at $830,000. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new stake in APA during the 1st quarter valued at $360,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at APA

In related news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,675,072.40. This represents a 12.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on APA. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on APA from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on APA from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on APA from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of APA from $43.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.42.

APA Price Performance

NASDAQ APA opened at $34.28 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. APA Corporation has a 12-month low of $17.86 and a 12-month high of $45.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.99 and a beta of 0.35.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.27. APA had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 17.38%.The business had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that APA Corporation will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

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 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 22nd. APA’s payout ratio is 23.31%.

APA Company Profile

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.