swisspartners Advisors Ltd Has $5.72 Million Holdings in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

swisspartners Advisors Ltd increased its stake in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 166,430 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,350 shares during the period. APA makes up approximately 4.4% of swisspartners Advisors Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. swisspartners Advisors Ltd owned about 0.06% of APA worth $5,722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in APA in the third quarter valued at about $1,967,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in APA by 130.0% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,534,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,037,000 after acquiring an additional 867,257 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in APA by 51.3% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 61,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,521,000 after acquiring an additional 20,806 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al grew its stake in APA by 72,245.0% in the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 144,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,930,000 after acquiring an additional 144,490 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in APA by 44.2% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 173,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,124,000 after acquiring an additional 53,112 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on APA. Mizuho boosted their price target on APA from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of APA in a report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on APA from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays cut their price target on APA from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on APA from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.33.

APA Stock Performance

NASDAQ APA traded up $1.02 during trading on Thursday, reaching $29.79. 4,277,218 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,446,879. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $29.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.33, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 3.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. APA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.17 and a fifty-two week high of $46.15.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.12). APA had a net margin of 34.04% and a return on equity of 45.32%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. APA’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that APA Co. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.19%.

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.