APA Corporation $APA Shares Purchased by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 20.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 193,102 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 32,357 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in APA were worth $4,723,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its stake in APA by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 14,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in APA by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 94,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,303,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. one8zero8 LLC boosted its stake in APA by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. one8zero8 LLC now owns 42,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,026,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in APA by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 106,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,592,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in APA by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 30,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $736,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

APA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:APA opened at $38.80 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $13.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. APA Corporation has a one year low of $16.25 and a one year high of $45.66. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.79.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. APA had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 17.38%.The company’s revenue was down 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that APA Corporation will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. APA’s payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Insider Activity at APA

In other APA news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of APA 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 66,810 shares in the company, valued at $2,675,072.40. The trade was a 12.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of APA stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total value of $833,290.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,634 shares in the company, valued at $240,349.82. This represents a 77.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on APA shares. Evercore lifted their price objective on APA from $25.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on APA from $31.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on APA from $37.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on APA from $38.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on APA from $21.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, APA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.12.

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.