APA Corporation $APA Shares Sold by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al cut its position in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 116,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 47,500 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in APA were worth $4,819,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of APA. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of APA in the second quarter worth $1,173,231,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of APA by 1.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,181,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $820,159,000 after buying an additional 377,429 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in APA by 6.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,376,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $695,099,000 after buying an additional 1,055,016 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in APA by 1,726.2% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,834,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,176,000 after buying an additional 4,569,779 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in APA by 55.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,154,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,309,000 after buying an additional 1,473,626 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Seaport Research Partners initiated coverage on APA in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of APA in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Argus raised APA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings raised APA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research report on Sunday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.76.

APA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APA opened at $52.82 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $45.55 and its 200 day moving average is $37.58. The stock has a market cap of $18.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.42. APA Corporation has a 1-year low of $21.63 and a 1-year high of $52.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). APA had a return on equity of 24.84% and a net margin of 19.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that APA Corporation will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is 21.14%.

APA declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, September 16th that allows the company to buy back 40,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

APA Profile

APA Corporation is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s activities include identifying hydrocarbon resources, drilling and completing wells, operating producing properties, and managing related infrastructure.

APA’s principal producing areas include the Permian Basin in the United States and Egypt’s Western Desert, where it operates through joint ventures with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation.