Altshuler Shaham Ltd Purchases Shares of 1,232 APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in APA by 16.2% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 64,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,647,000 after purchasing an additional 9,001 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in APA during the 3rd quarter valued at $222,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of APA by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 43,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,713,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares during the period. Advisor Partners II LLC increased its position in shares of APA by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 56,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,319,000 after purchasing an additional 2,341 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of APA by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 853,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,069,000 after purchasing an additional 103,846 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on APA shares. Truist Financial decreased their target price on APA from $59.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com cut APA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on APA from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of APA in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on APA from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, APA presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.20.

APA Stock Up 0.8 %

APA stock traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $30.51. 5,897,410 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,877,792. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $32.54 and its 200-day moving average is $33.80. The company has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 3.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. APA Co. has a 12 month low of $28.90 and a 12 month high of $46.15.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. APA had a net margin of 34.04% and a return on equity of 45.32%. APA’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that APA Co. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.19%.

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.