Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Acquires 358 Shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,029 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in APA were worth $898,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,719,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,714,656,000 after buying an additional 2,003,862 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 130.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,534,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,037,000 after buying an additional 867,257 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 1,527.3% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 921,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,880,000 after buying an additional 865,026 shares during the period. Smead Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,235,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,866,000 after buying an additional 626,460 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 8,888.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 549,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,587,000 after buying an additional 543,438 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

APA Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of APA stock opened at $32.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 3.27. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $32.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. APA Co. has a twelve month low of $29.47 and a twelve month high of $46.15.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. APA had a net margin of 34.95% and a return on equity of 62.64%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.48 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that APA Co. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. APA’s payout ratio is 10.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lowered their price target on APA from $59.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Johnson Rice cut APA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, January 5th. Susquehanna raised their target price on APA from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Monday. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $37.00 target price (down from $43.00) on shares of APA in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on APA from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.25.

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.