22,838 Shares in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) Acquired by AXQ Capital LP

AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 22,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $527,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harris Associates L P raised its position in shares of APA by 20.8% in the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 24,914,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $609,414,000 after buying an additional 4,293,932 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of APA by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 30,471,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $745,341,000 after purchasing an additional 3,411,270 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,092,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,500,000 after purchasing an additional 929,770 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of APA by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,886,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,540,000 after purchasing an additional 894,574 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in APA in the fourth quarter valued at $14,524,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Stock Performance

APA stock opened at $20.61 on Friday. APA Co. has a 12-month low of $17.66 and a 12-month high of $36.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $7.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 3.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $21.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.06.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. APA had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 24.36%. On average, research analysts forecast that APA Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on APA. Raymond James lowered APA from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of APA in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of APA from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of APA from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on APA from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.60.

APA Profile

APA Corporation, an independent energy company, explores for, develops, and produces natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids. It has oil and gas operations in the United States, Egypt, and North Sea. The company also has exploration and appraisal activities in Suriname, as well as holds interests in projects located in Uruguay and internationally.