MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC Invests $874,000 in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 24,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $874,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in APA by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,193,000 after purchasing an additional 7,461 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of APA by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,237,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,412,000 after buying an additional 38,505 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of APA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $95,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its position in APA by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 726,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,053,000 after purchasing an additional 90,610 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in APA by 1.0% in the third 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on APA. Susquehanna upped their price target on APA from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on APA from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on APA from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on APA from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.20.

APA Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ APA traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $30.17. 1,639,976 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,841,411. APA Co. has a 52-week low of $28.90 and a 52-week high of $46.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.91. The company has a market capitalization of $9.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 3.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. APA had a net margin of 34.04% and a return on equity of 45.32%. APA’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that APA Co. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.19%.

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.