APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) Shares Acquired by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 3.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 99,163 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,403 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in APA were worth $2,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of APA by 4.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,648,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,535,001,000 after purchasing an additional 2,004,555 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of APA by 18.5% in the first quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 48,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,673,000 after purchasing an additional 7,580 shares during the period. Woodstock Corp increased its holdings in shares of APA by 20.3% in the third quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 308,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,540,000 after purchasing an additional 51,993 shares during the period. Ellis Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of APA in the second quarter valued at about $2,499,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of APA by 112.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,448,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,092,000 after purchasing an additional 767,557 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

APA Stock Performance

NASDAQ APA opened at $23.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.54 billion, a PE ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 3.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.37. APA Co. has a 1-year low of $22.72 and a 1-year high of $40.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. APA had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 32.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 41.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that APA Co. will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on APA from $36.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on APA in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on APA from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Mizuho lowered their target price on APA from $35.00 to $28.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on APA from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.18.

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.