Vestcor Inc Sells 17,262 Shares of APA Corporation $APA

Vestcor Inc decreased its position in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 23.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,997 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,262 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in APA were worth $1,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in APA by 6.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 33,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $700,000 after purchasing an additional 2,070 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of APA by 49.6% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 3,578 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of APA by 43.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,668,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,092,000 after purchasing an additional 806,252 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of APA by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 44,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $942,000 after buying an additional 4,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in APA during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,199,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the business’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 value of $392,392.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 66,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,675,072.40. The trade was a 12.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $240,349.82. The trade was a 77.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

APA Price Performance

NASDAQ APA opened at $36.57 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $38.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 0.33. APA Corporation has a 52 week low of $17.74 and a 52 week high of $45.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. APA had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 17.38%.APA’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 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that APA Corporation will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 22nd will be issued 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 payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on APA shares. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on APA from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of APA from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of APA from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded APA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their target price on APA from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, APA presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.96.

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.