US Bancorp DE Raises Stock Position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,719 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,010 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in APA were worth $1,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of APA by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 30,471,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $745,341,000 after purchasing an additional 3,411,270 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P increased its holdings in APA by 20.8% during the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 24,914,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $609,414,000 after buying an additional 4,293,932 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in APA by 4.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,991,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,312,000 after acquiring an additional 485,291 shares during the period. Smead Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of APA by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,667,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,466,000 after acquiring an additional 326,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of APA by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,307,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,928,000 after acquiring an additional 224,547 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at APA

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 acquired at an average cost of $22.78 per share, for a total transaction of $100,026.98. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 12,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $283,292.08. The trade was a 54.58 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on APA. Citigroup decreased their target price on APA from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on APA from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on APA from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of APA from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of APA from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.80.

APA Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ APA opened at $18.84 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 3.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $22.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.62. APA Co. has a 12-month low of $17.66 and a 12-month high of $36.04.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. APA had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 24.36%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that APA Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.31%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.25%.

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.