Voya Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in APA Corporation $APA

Voya Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 23.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 75,800 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,592 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in APA were worth $1,840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of APA. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in APA by 38.8% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 284,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,199,000 after buying an additional 79,451 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of APA by 33.3% during the second quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 400,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,316,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of APA by 98.7% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 51,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $950,000 after acquiring an additional 25,787 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in shares of APA by 22.0% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 914,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,729,000 after acquiring an additional 165,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in APA in the first quarter valued at $415,000. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

APA Stock Down 0.7%

APA stock opened at $24.18 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $8.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.81, a PEG ratio of 6.52 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. APA Corporation has a twelve month low of $13.58 and a twelve month high of $27.72. The company’s 50 day moving average is $24.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.33.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.19. APA had a net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 19.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that APA Corporation will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 22nd. APA’s payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on APA from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of APA from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of APA from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of APA from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of APA from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.73.

APA 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.