APA Corporation $APA Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc reduced its APA stake by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 52,650 shares and leaving it with 723,929 shares valued at about $17.7 million.
• APA’s latest quarterly results topped expectations, with EPS of $1.38 versus the $1.11 consensus and revenue of $2.33 billion, though revenue was still down 11.7% from a year earlier.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, implying a $1.00 annualized payout and a 2.6% yield; analysts currently have a consensus rating of “Hold” with an average price target of $40.96.

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its position in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA - Free Report) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 723,929 shares of the company's stock after selling 52,650 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.20% of APA worth $17,707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of APA. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in APA by 6.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 33,300 shares of the company's stock worth $700,000 after purchasing an additional 2,070 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in APA by 49.6% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,785 shares of the company's stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 3,578 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in APA by 43.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,668,505 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,092,000 after acquiring an additional 806,252 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in APA by 10.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 44,833 shares of the company's stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 4,297 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in APA in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,199,000. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Capital One Financial lifted their target price on APA from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on APA from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on APA from $29.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on APA from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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. Eight equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, APA currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.96.

Insider Activity at APA

In other APA news, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director owned 6,634 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $240,349.82. This represents a 77.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,675,072.40. This represents a 12.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

APA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:APA opened at $37.75 on Tuesday. APA Corporation has a 12 month low of $17.03 and a 12 month high of $45.66. The stock has a market cap of $13.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.80 and a beta of 0.38. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $39.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.27. APA had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 17.38%.The firm had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.06 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that APA Corporation will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. APA's payout ratio is presently 23.31%.

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.

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