Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $695.10 Million Stake in APA Corporation $APA

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its APA stake by 6.9% in the first quarter, ending with 16.38 million shares valued at about $695.1 million, or 4.63% of the company.
• APA’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $1.38 versus the $1.11 estimate and revenue of $2.33 billion versus $2.13 billion expected, even though revenue fell 11.7% year over year.
• The company declared a $0.25 quarterly dividend payable on August 21, implying a $1.00 annual payout and a 2.8% yield; analysts currently have a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $40.42.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA - Free Report) by 6.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,376,952 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,055,016 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 4.63% of APA worth $695,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of APA during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of APA in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Summit Securities Group LLC increased its stake in shares of APA by 115.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 710 shares during the period. Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new position in shares of APA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in APA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at APA

In other news, 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 66,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,675,072.40. This represents a 12.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APA has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of APA from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of APA from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of APA from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Capital One Financial lifted their price target on shares of APA from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of APA from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, APA currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.42.

APA Price Performance

APA stock opened at $35.22 on Monday. The stock's 50 day moving average is $35.71 and its 200 day moving average is $33.59. 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 firm has a market cap of $12.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 0.35. APA Corporation has a one year low of $17.86 and a one year high of $45.66.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.27. The business 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.06 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that APA Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

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 given 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 2.8%. APA's payout ratio is 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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