Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Acquires 111,777 Shares of APA Corporation $APA

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 57.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 306,195 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 111,777 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned about 0.09% of APA worth $7,765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of APA. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of APA by 157.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,060,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,869,891 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of APA by 13.6% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,030,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,657,000 after purchasing an additional 1,674,739 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of APA by 29.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,462,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018,326 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of APA by 7,627.3% in the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,013,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,608,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in APA by 160.5% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 336,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,165,000 after buying an additional 892,438 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total transaction of $833,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

APA Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of APA stock opened at $43.02 on Tuesday. APA Corporation has a 1 year low of $13.58 and a 1 year high of $45.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $32.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $15.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 0.49.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. APA had a net margin of 15.55% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that APA Corporation will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. APA’s payout ratio is presently 25.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of APA from $22.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of APA from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of APA in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of APA to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of APA from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, APA currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.46.

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.