Victory Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,415,364 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 154,040 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.38% of APA worth $32,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of APA. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in APA by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 52,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,296,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in APA by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,877,000 after acquiring an additional 11,964 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in APA by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 138,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,386,000 after acquiring an additional 4,266 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in APA by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in APA by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 456,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,176,000 after acquiring an additional 13,557 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on APA shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on APA from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on APA from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut APA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on APA from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, APA presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.80.

APA Trading Up 0.5 %

APA opened at $18.84 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 3.26. APA Co. has a 52 week low of $17.66 and a 52 week high of $36.04. The business’s 50 day moving average is $22.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

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

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. 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 (DPR) is 44.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Juliet S. Ellis bought 4,391 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $22.78 per share, with a total value of $100,026.98. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 12,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,292.08. This trade represents a 54.58 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

APA 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.