Apache Corporation (APA): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

Now, key money managers have jumped into Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA) headfirst. Edinburgh Partners, managed by Sandy Nairn, initiated the most valuable position in Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA). The fund reportedly had $70.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also made a $65 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new APA investors: Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, and Paul Reeder and Edward Shapiro’s PAR Capital Management.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA). We will take a look at Essex Property Trust Inc (NYSE:ESS), Palo Alto Networks Inc (NYSE:PANW), Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP), and National-Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NYSE:NOV). This group of stocks’ market valuations match APA’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 32 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $994 million. That figure was $1.33 billion in APA’s case. Palo Alto Networks Inc (NYSE:PANW) is the most popular stock in this table, while Essex Property Trust Inc (NYSE:ESS) is the least popular one with only 22 bullish hedge fund positions. Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA) is not the most popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal, but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard PANW might be a better candidate to consider a long position.