Morningstar Investment Management LLC Invests $4.66 Million in APA Corporation $APA

Morningstar Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 109,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,656,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in APA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in APA by 6.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,376,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $695,099,000 after buying an additional 1,055,016 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in APA by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,710,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $359,807,000 after buying an additional 285,542 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in APA by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,425,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,010,000 after buying an additional 1,864,900 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of APA by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,171,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,426,000 after acquiring an additional 3,117,032 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of APA by 1,726.2% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,834,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,176,000 after acquiring an additional 4,569,779 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

APA Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ APA opened at $36.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.43 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.91. 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 Corporation has a 52-week low of $17.86 and a 52-week high of $45.66.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.27. APA had a net margin of 17.38% and a return on equity of 20.70%. The firm had revenue of $2.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that APA Corporation will post 4.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 22nd. APA’s payout ratio is 23.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of APA from $21.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Scotiabank upped their price target on APA from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on APA from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Stephens raised their price objective on APA from $43.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Capital One Financial boosted their price objective on APA from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other APA news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the business’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 transaction of $392,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 66,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,675,072.40. The trade was a 12.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

APA 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.