APA Corporation $APA is Contravisory Investment Management Inc.’s Largest Position

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 706.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 346,524 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 303,539 shares during the period. APA makes up approximately 3.0% of Contravisory Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Contravisory Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in APA were worth $14,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in APA by 76.9% in the 4th 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 last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in APA by 157.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,060,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,869,891 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in APA by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,425,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,010,000 after purchasing an additional 1,864,900 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in APA by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,030,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,657,000 after purchasing an additional 1,674,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of APA by 29.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,462,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018,326 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

APA Stock Up 0.3%

APA stock opened at $33.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.81 billion, a PE ratio of 7.79 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $37.14 and its 200 day moving average is $32.62. APA Corporation has a one year low of $17.86 and a one year high of $45.66.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $2.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. APA had a net margin of 17.38% and a return on equity of 20.70%. The company’s revenue was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that APA Corporation will post 5.6 EPS for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 22nd. APA’s payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 value of $392,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 66,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,675,072.40. This represents a 12.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on APA shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on APA from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of APA from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Capital One Financial raised their price target on shares of APA from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of APA from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of APA from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.08.

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.