A&I Financial Services LLC Takes Position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

A&I Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 16,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $389,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of APA by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 65,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,503,000 after purchasing an additional 12,077 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of APA by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,991,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,312,000 after purchasing an additional 485,291 shares in the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased its position in shares of APA by 175.8% during the 4th quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 23,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 14,980 shares in the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of APA during the 3rd quarter worth about $7,238,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in APA by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,261,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,852,000 after acquiring an additional 149,762 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Stock Down 7.2 %

APA stock opened at $20.42 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.10. APA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $20.09 and a fifty-two week high of $36.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 3.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that APA Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.90%. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of APA from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of APA from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of APA from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of APA from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of APA in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Juliet S. Ellis bought 4,391 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $22.78 per share, for a total transaction of $100,026.98. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 12,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $283,292.08. This represents a 54.58 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.