Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $768,000 in APA Corporation $APA

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 18,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 3,117,032 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of APA by 157.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,060,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,970,000 after buying an additional 1,869,891 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of APA by 21.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position 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 buying an additional 1,291,706 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in APA by 29.6% in 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. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

APA Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ APA traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $32.83. The company had a trading volume of 244,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,275,855. The company has a market capitalization of $11.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.67 and a beta of 0.35. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $36.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.95. APA Corporation has a 12-month low of $17.86 and a 12-month high of $45.66.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.27. APA had a net margin of 17.38% and a return on equity of 20.70%. The company 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 was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that APA Corporation will post 5.35 EPS for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. 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 Activity at APA

In related news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president owned 66,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,675,072.40. This represents a 12.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded APA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on APA from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Roth Capital raised shares of APA from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $38.00 in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of APA from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of APA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.88.

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.