swisspartners Advisors Ltd Acquires 78,950 Shares of APA Corporation $APA

swisspartners Advisors Ltd increased its holdings in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 448,460 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 78,950 shares during the period. APA comprises approximately 9.0% of swisspartners Advisors Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. swisspartners Advisors Ltd owned 0.13% of APA worth $10,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in APA by 2.0% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,208,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,882,000 after acquiring an additional 275,981 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of APA by 157.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,060,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,869,891 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 23.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,710,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,573,000 after purchasing an additional 522,947 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 43.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,668,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,092,000 after purchasing an additional 806,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its position in APA by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 1,873,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,477,000 after purchasing an additional 130,524 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Stock Up 3.5%

APA stock opened at $27.38 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $25.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.49. The company has a market capitalization of $9.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.37 and a beta of 0.74. APA Corporation has a 52 week low of $13.58 and a 52 week high of $27.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

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

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 22nd. APA’s payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on APA from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of APA from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of APA from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of APA in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on APA from $21.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.35.

About APA

APA Corporation (NASDAQ: APA) is an independent exploration and production company engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas resources. The company operates through three core regions: the United States, Egypt and the North Sea. Through its integrated approach, APA combines geological and geophysical expertise with technical innovation to identify and develop hydrocarbons in both onshore and offshore settings.

In the United States, APA’s largest position is in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it holds substantial acreage dedicated to oil-focused drilling and production.