Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Purchases 31,458 Shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 124.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,644 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,458 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in APA were worth $1,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in APA by 239.0% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 165,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,700,000 after purchasing an additional 285,075 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 81.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 503,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,312,000 after acquiring an additional 226,353 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 2.0% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 24,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $834,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. Gallacher Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 4.7% during the first quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 15,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,000 after acquiring an additional 695 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 18.0% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 74,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,565,000 after acquiring an additional 11,358 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

APA Price Performance

Shares of APA stock opened at $29.97 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $29.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $11.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.35, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 3.26. APA Co. has a 12 month low of $27.17 and a 12 month high of $46.15.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.12). APA had a return on equity of 45.32% and a net margin of 34.04%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. APA’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that APA Co. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on APA. Barclays cut their price objective on APA from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on APA from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on APA from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of APA in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered APA from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $52.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.95.

APA Company 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.