APA Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:APA)

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Traders purchased 40,732 put options on the company. This is an increase of 247% compared to the average daily volume of 11,724 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APA has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens boosted their target price on APA from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of APA in a research report on Monday. Mizuho boosted their price target on APA from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. William Blair initiated coverage on APA in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on APA from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.55.

APA Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:APA traded up $0.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $27.43. 2,262,182 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,747,760. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $9.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.58, a P/E/G ratio of 7.22 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.44. APA has a 12-month low of $13.58 and a 12-month high of $27.44.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. APA had a net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 19.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that APA will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 22nd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in shares of APA by 276.7% during the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in APA during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Spire Wealth Management increased its position in APA by 179.6% during the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 977 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in APA in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of APA by 6,096.7% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,829 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.