Ritholtz Wealth Management Has $1.98 Million Stake in APA Corporation $APA

Key Points

• Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in APA by 192.2% in Q4 to 80,783 shares, a holding worth about $1.98 million at the end of the period.
• Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 APA shares on March 18 for roughly $833,290, reducing his ownership by 77.61% to 6,634 shares.
• APA beat quarterly expectations with EPS $0.91 vs. $0.62 and $1.99B revenue, and announced a $0.25 quarterly dividend (annualized $1.00, ~2.5% yield) to be paid May 22.

Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA - Free Report) by 192.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,783 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 53,141 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in APA were worth $1,976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in shares of APA by 276.7% during the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,213 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in shares of APA during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of APA by 179.6% during the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,521 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in shares of APA during the third quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its position in shares of APA by 4,697.7% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,063 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 2,020 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at APA

In other news, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total transaction of $833,290.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $240,349.82. This represents a 77.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on APA shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on APA from $35.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of APA in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded APA from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on APA from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of APA from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.08.

APA Stock Performance

Shares of APA opened at $39.49 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90 and a beta of 0.49. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $34.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.89. APA Corporation has a 12 month low of $14.81 and a 12 month high of $45.66.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.89 billion. APA had a net margin of 15.55% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that APA Corporation will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. APA's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.06%.

About APA

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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