Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 7,461 Shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 28.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,246 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,461 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in APA were worth $1,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lido Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of APA by 1.2% in the third quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 21,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $900,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS raised its stake in shares of APA by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 49,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,788,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of APA by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of APA by 5.8% during the third quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC now owns 6,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of APA by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 961 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of APA from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday. Johnson Rice downgraded shares of APA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, January 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of APA from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of APA in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of APA in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.10.

APA Stock Down 1.3 %

APA stock opened at $32.06 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a PE ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 3.27. APA Co. has a twelve month low of $29.47 and a twelve month high of $46.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $32.46 and a 200-day moving average of $34.53.

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

APA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. APA’s payout ratio is 10.78%.

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.