Legacy Capital Group California Inc. Invests $830,000 in APA Corporation $APA

Legacy Capital Group California Inc. purchased a new stake in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 19,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $830,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of APA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of APA by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,321,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291,706 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in APA by 2.0% in the 4th 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 boosted its holdings in APA by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,425,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,010,000 after buying an additional 1,864,900 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 3,117,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in APA by 29.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,462,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,349,000 after buying an additional 1,018,326 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Stock Up 3.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:APA opened at $34.67 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 0.35. APA Corporation has a 12-month low of $17.86 and a 12-month high of $45.66. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $35.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.30. 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 (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. APA had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 17.38%.The firm’s revenue was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.06 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that APA Corporation will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. APA’s payout ratio is presently 23.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on APA. Mizuho increased their price objective on APA from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of APA from $37.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Evercore lifted their target price on shares of APA from $25.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of APA from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of APA from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the company’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 value of $392,392.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.