Belpointe Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 7,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $166,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of APA. MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new stake in APA during the third quarter worth about $214,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of APA by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 11,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185 shares during the period. PVG Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of APA in the 3rd quarter valued at $757,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in APA by 154.2% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 62,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,526,000 after buying an additional 37,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in APA by 144.3% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 30,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $756,000 after buying an additional 18,268 shares in the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James cut APA from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $20.00 price objective on APA and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of APA from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of APA from $26.00 to $14.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of APA from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, APA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.21.

APA Stock Performance

Shares of APA stock opened at $16.12 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $19.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.04. The company has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 2.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. APA Co. has a one year low of $13.58 and a one year high of $33.41.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. APA had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 24.36%. On average, research analysts predict that APA Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.20%. APA’s payout ratio is 44.25%.

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.