APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) Shares Acquired by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,598 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 760 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in APA were worth $237,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APA. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of APA by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,193,000 after purchasing an additional 7,461 shares in the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of APA by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,237,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,412,000 after buying an additional 38,505 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of APA in the fourth quarter valued at $95,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in APA by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 726,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,053,000 after buying an additional 90,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in APA by 1.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,531,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,037,000 after acquiring an additional 24,182 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of APA stock opened at $30.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 3.29. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.91. APA Co. has a 52-week low of $28.90 and a 52-week high of $46.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.12). APA had a net margin of 34.04% and a return on equity of 45.32%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. APA’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that APA Co. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of APA from $59.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on APA from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Mizuho cut their target price on APA from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on APA from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.20.

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.