APA Corporation $APA Stock Holdings Lifted by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 34.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 254,041 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 65,592 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in APA were worth $11,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APA. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in APA during the second quarter worth $1,173,231,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of APA by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,181,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,159,000 after purchasing an additional 377,429 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of APA by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,376,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $695,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055,016 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of APA by 1,726.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,834,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,176,000 after purchasing an additional 4,569,779 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of APA by 55.0% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,154,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,309,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,626 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on APA shares. Wall Street Zen raised APA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 7th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of APA from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of APA in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of APA from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $46.00 price target on shares of APA in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.14.

APA Stock Up 3.6%

Shares of NASDAQ APA opened at $46.74 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business’s 50 day moving average is $46.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.37. APA Corporation has a 52-week low of $23.06 and a 52-week high of $52.96. The firm has a market cap of $15.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.59, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.29.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.34. APA had a return on equity of 28.34% and a net margin of 23.08%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.48 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 30.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that APA Corporation will post 6.61 EPS for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.23%.

APA declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

APA Profile

APA Corporation is an independent energy company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its activities include operating wells and related infrastructure, as well as evaluating and developing oil and natural gas resources. The company’s principal operating areas include the United States and Egypt. APA also has offshore exploration interests in Suriname, where it has worked with partners to assess resources in the region. APA traces its history to Apache Corporation, founded in 1954.