Lazard Asset Management LLC Takes $20.59 Million Position in APA Corporation $APA

Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 485,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,595,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in APA by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 106,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,609,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of APA by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its holdings in shares of APA by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 14,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of APA by 520.8% during the 1st quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 596 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of APA by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 130,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,201,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at APA

In other news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total transaction of $392,392.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 66,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,675,072.40. This represents a 12.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of APA from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of APA in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of APA from $21.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of APA from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of APA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.35.

APA Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ APA opened at $34.93 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.34 billion, a PE ratio of 8.14 and a beta of 0.35. APA Corporation has a twelve month low of $17.86 and a twelve month high of $45.66. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.14.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.06 EPS. APA’s revenue was down 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that APA Corporation will post 4.92 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is 23.31%.

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.