Wedbush Securities Inc. Buys Shares of 9,599 APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Wedbush Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 9,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of APA. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in shares of APA by 1,087.9% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in APA by 84.1% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co lifted its position in shares of APA by 5,718.2% during the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 1,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,258 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 77.9% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of APA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $22.00 target price on shares of APA and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on APA from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho reduced their target price on APA from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Raymond James cut APA from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $45.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.68.

APA Stock Performance

APA opened at $14.60 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. APA Co. has a 12-month low of $13.58 and a 12-month high of $35.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $20.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a PE ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 2.74.

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

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.85%. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.25%.

About APA

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.