Magnetar Financial LLC Buys Shares of 42,583 APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 42,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,464,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in APA. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of APA during the 4th quarter valued at $56,000. Procyon Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of APA during the 4th quarter valued at $414,000. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC now owns 106,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,828,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:APA traded down $0.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $31.21. 3,493,116 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,692,342. APA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.17 and a fifty-two week high of $46.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $11.58 billion, a PE ratio of 3.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 3.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.03.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.78 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. APA’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that APA Co. will post 4.17 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 22nd. APA’s payout ratio is 11.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on APA. Mizuho increased their price objective on APA from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on APA from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on APA from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Susquehanna raised their target price on APA from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on APA from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.86.

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.