APA Corporation $APA Stock Holdings Cut by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

Key Points

• BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S cut its APA stake by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 70,418 shares and ending with 663,079 shares valued at about $16.2 million.
• APA saw mixed insider activity and strong institutional interest: several hedge funds increased holdings, while insiders Mark D. Maddox and Matthew Regis Bob sold shares. Institutions still own about 83.01% of the company.
• Analysts remain cautious overall despite some upgrades, with APA carrying a Hold consensus rating and an average price target of $40.96. The stock was also down 4.3% in Friday trading after reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lessened its stake in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA - Free Report) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 663,079 shares of the company's stock after selling 70,418 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S owned about 0.19% of APA worth $16,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of APA. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of APA by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 33,300 shares of the company's stock valued at $700,000 after acquiring an additional 2,070 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,578 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 806,252 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of APA in the second quarter valued at $5,199,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at APA

In other news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of APA 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 66,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,675,072.40. The trade was a 12.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of APA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total value of $833,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,634 shares in the company, valued at $240,349.82. The trade was a 77.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded APA from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on APA from $38.00 to $41.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. Bank of America increased their price objective on APA from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on APA from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded APA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.96.

APA Trading Down 4.3%

APA stock opened at $36.57 on Friday. 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 market capitalization of $12.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 0.33. APA Corporation has a one year low of $17.74 and a one year high of $45.66. The company's fifty day moving average price is $38.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.58.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $2.33 billion for 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 business's quarterly revenue was down 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.06 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that APA Corporation will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. 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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