Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on APA (NASDAQ:APA)

APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 53,064 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 181% compared to the typical daily volume of 18,910 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of APA by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,193,000 after acquiring an additional 7,461 shares during the period. Summa Corp. purchased a new position in shares of APA in the fourth quarter valued at $7,571,000. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its stake 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 last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of APA during the 4th quarter worth $95,000. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of APA by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 726,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,053,000 after buying an additional 90,610 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on APA. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of APA from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of APA in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of APA from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 price objective (down from $43.00) on shares of APA in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.20.

APA Stock Down 1.6 %

APA stock opened at $30.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.15 billion, a PE ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 3.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $32.56 and a 200-day moving average of $33.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. APA has a one year low of $28.90 and a one year high of $46.15.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that APA will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

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.