Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Increases Stake in APA Corporation $APA

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 76.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,171,963 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,117,032 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 2.02% of APA worth $175,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of APA by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its stake in shares of APA by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 14,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of APA by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 30,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of APA by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 9,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of APA by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 24,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Price Performance

Shares of APA stock opened at $36.57 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average of $38.89 and a 200 day moving average of $31.63. The firm has a market cap of $12.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 0.33. APA Corporation has a 1 year low of $17.74 and a 1 year high of $45.66.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $2.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. APA had a net margin of 17.38% and a return on equity of 20.70%. APA’s quarterly revenue was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.06 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that APA Corporation will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

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 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of APA from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of APA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of APA from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of APA from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on shares of APA from $24.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.96.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total value of $833,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,634 shares in the company, valued at $240,349.82. This trade represents a 77.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 66,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,675,072.40. The trade was a 12.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.