APA (NASDAQ:APA) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Monday . Approximately 8,296,628 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 31% from the previous session’s volume of 6,311,505 shares.The stock last traded at $21.30 and had previously closed at $21.04.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on APA. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of APA from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of APA from $29.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of APA from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays decreased their price target on APA from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Bernstein Bank dropped their price objective on APA from $30.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, APA has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.14.

APA Stock Up 1.1 %

The company has a market cap of $7.87 billion, a PE ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 3.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.26.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Juliet S. Ellis acquired 4,391 shares of APA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $22.78 per share, with a total value 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. This trade represents a 54.58 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of APA by 12.6% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P raised its holdings in shares of APA by 20.8% during the 3rd 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in APA by 4.2% in the 3rd 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 holdings in APA by 3.5% in 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 period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of APA by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,307,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,928,000 after purchasing an additional 224,547 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

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.