Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Buys 29,300 Shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 360,853 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,300 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.12% of APA worth $12,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APA. HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in APA during the 3rd quarter worth about $256,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in APA by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,237,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,412,000 after acquiring an additional 38,505 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of APA by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 726,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,053,000 after acquiring an additional 90,610 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in APA by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,531,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,037,000 after purchasing an additional 24,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in APA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,050,000. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on APA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on APA from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of APA from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James decreased their price target on APA from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on APA from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Johnson Rice lowered shares of APA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, APA presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.10.

APA Price Performance

Shares of APA stock traded down $0.34 on Tuesday, hitting $32.13. 1,574,212 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,790,801. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.57. The firm has a market cap of $9.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 3.27. APA Co. has a 52 week low of $29.47 and a 52 week high of $46.15.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted 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 return on equity of 62.64% and a net margin of 34.95%. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that APA Co. will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. APA’s payout ratio is 10.78%.

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.