United Capital Management of KS Inc. Sells 30,000 Shares of APA Corporation $APA

United Capital Management of KS Inc. cut its position in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 60.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30,000 shares during the quarter. United Capital Management of KS Inc.’s holdings in APA were worth $489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new position in APA in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in APA in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in APA in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of APA during the third quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of APA during the fourth quarter worth about $64,000. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at APA

In related news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total transaction of $392,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 66,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,675,072.40. This trade represents a 12.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 6,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $240,349.82. This represents a 77.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on APA. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on APA from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Zacks Research downgraded APA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on APA from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Bank of America raised their price objective on APA from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on APA from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.04.

APA Price Performance

Shares of APA opened at $37.02 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $38.32 and a 200-day moving average of $32.04. APA Corporation has a 1 year low of $17.74 and a 1 year high of $45.66. The company has a market capitalization of $13.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.63 and a beta of 0.33. 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) last released 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 business had revenue of $2.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that APA Corporation will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 22nd will be paid 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 2.7%. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.31%.

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.