APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) Shares Purchased by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 178,465 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,086 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in APA were worth $6,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SVB Wealth LLC raised its stake in APA by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 5,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of APA by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 45,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,636,000 after purchasing an additional 2,409 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. bought a new position in shares of APA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $508,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of APA by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 191,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,887,000 after purchasing an additional 10,631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of APA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $664,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on APA shares. Piper Sandler upped their target price on APA from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays started coverage on APA in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 target price (down from $43.00) on shares of APA in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on APA from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on APA from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, APA currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.90.

APA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APA opened at $32.36 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $32.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $9.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 3.27. APA Co. has a 1 year low of $29.47 and a 1 year high of $46.15.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. APA had a net margin of 34.95% and a return on equity of 62.64%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that APA Co. will post 4.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 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 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. APA’s payout ratio is currently 10.78%.

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.