On May 3, 2023 at 09:41:40 ET an unusually large $235.75K block of Put contracts in Apache (APA) was bought, with a strike price of $35.00 / share, expiring in 2 day(s) (on May 5, 2023). Fintel tracks all large options trades, and the premium spent on this trade was 2.59 sigmas above the mean, placing it in the 99.81th percentile of all recent large trades made in APA options.
This trade was first picked up on Fintel's real time Options Flow tool, where unusual option trades are highlighted.
What is the Fund Sentiment?
There are 1438 funds or institutions reporting positions in Apache. This is an increase of 24 owner(s) or 1.70% in the last quarter. Average portfolio weight of all funds dedicated to APA is 0.29%, an increase of 18.06%. Total shares owned by institutions decreased in the last three months by 3.78% to 289,997K shares. 
The put/call ratio of APA is 0.91, indicating a bullish outlook.
Analyst Price Forecast Suggests 49.23% Upside
As of April 24, 2023, the average one-year price target for Apache is $51.27. The forecasts range from a low of $36.36 to a high of $78.75. The average price target represents an increase of 49.23% from its latest reported closing price of $34.36.
See our leaderboard of companies with the largest price target upside.
The projected annual revenue for Apache is $9,769MM, a decrease of 10.87%. The projected annual non-GAAP EPS is $9.61.
What are Other Shareholders Doing?
Columbia Funds Variable Series Trust II - Columbia Variable Portfolio - Large Cap Index Fund Class 3 holds 15K shares representing 0.00% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 15K shares, representing a decrease of 0.04%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in APA by 26.24% over the last quarter.
Stifel Financial holds 562K shares representing 0.18% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 537K shares, representing an increase of 4.43%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in APA by 30.96% over the last quarter.
NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL SERIES FUND INC - Index 500 Stock Portfolio holds 45K shares representing 0.01% ownership of the company. No change in the last quarter.
ULVM - VictoryShares USAA MSCI USA Value Momentum ETF holds 22K shares representing 0.01% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 10K shares, representing an increase of 54.16%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in APA by 128.98% over the last quarter.
QVML - Invesco S&P 500 QVM Multi-factor ETF holds 12K shares representing 0.00% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 9K shares, representing an increase of 26.25%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in APA by 15.74% over the last quarter.
Apache Declares $0.25 Dividend
On February 3, 2023 the company declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share ($1.00 annualized). Shareholders of record as of April 21, 2023 will receive the payment on May 22, 2023. Previously, the company paid $0.25 per share.
At the current share price of $34.36 / share, the stock's dividend yield is 2.91%. Looking back five years and taking a sample every week, the average dividend yield has been 1.95%, the lowest has been 0.36%, and the highest has been 5.12%. The standard deviation of yields is 1.23 (n=235).
The current dividend yield is 0.78 standard deviations above the historical average.
Additionally, the company's dividend payout ratio is 0.08. The payout ratio tells us how much of a company's income is paid out in dividends. A payout ratio of one (1.0) means 100% of the company's income is paid in a dividend. A payout ratio greater than one means the company is dipping into savings in order to maintain its dividend - not a healthy situation. Companies with few growth prospects are expected to pay out most of their income in dividends, which typically means a payout ratio between 0.5 and 1.0. Companies with good growth prospects are expected to retain some earnings in order to invest in those growth prospects, which translates to a payout ratio of zero to 0.5.
The company's 3-Year dividend growth rate is 9.00%, demonstrating that it has increased its dividend over time.
APA Background Information
(This description is provided by the company.)
APA Corporation, through its consolidated subsidiaries, explores for and produces oil and gas with operations in the United States, Egypt and the United Kingdom and exploration activities offshore Suriname.
See all Apache regulatory filings.This story originally appeared on Fintel.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
