Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Buys 77,125 Shares of APA Corporation $APA

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 71.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 185,818 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 77,125 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in APA were worth $4,437,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of APA. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of APA by 869.7% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 194,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,872,000 after buying an additional 174,369 shares during the period. United Capital Management of KS Inc. bought a new position in shares of APA during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,214,000. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in APA by 38.8% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 284,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,199,000 after acquiring an additional 79,451 shares in the last quarter. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in APA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,337,000. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in APA by 2,049.4% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 403,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,797,000 after acquiring an additional 384,738 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays raised shares of APA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of APA from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of APA from $29.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of APA from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of APA in a report on Monday, December 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.58.

APA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:APA opened at $43.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.96 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $31.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.68. APA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $13.58 and a fifty-two week high of $45.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

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

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at APA

In other news, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of APA stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $240,349.82. The trade was a 77.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

APA Company Profile

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.