KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New $6.47 Million Investment in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 280,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,465,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Harris Associates L P raised its position in APA by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 24,914,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $609,414,000 after purchasing an additional 4,293,932 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in APA by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 30,471,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $745,341,000 after acquiring an additional 3,411,270 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in APA by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,092,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,500,000 after acquiring an additional 929,770 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in APA by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,886,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,540,000 after acquiring an additional 894,574 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of APA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,524,000. 83.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

APA Stock Up 0.2 %

APA stock opened at $20.89 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. APA Co. has a 12 month low of $17.66 and a 12 month high of $36.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.61 billion, a PE ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 3.26. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.97.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.18). APA had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 24.36%. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Equities analysts expect that APA Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.79%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on APA shares. Piper Sandler cut their price target on APA from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of APA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of APA in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of APA from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Raymond James cut APA from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.60.

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.