Brokerages Set APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) Price Target at $32.52

APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $31.14.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on APA shares. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of APA from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of APA from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of APA from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays dropped their target price on APA from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on APA from $29.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other APA news, Director Juliet S. Ellis acquired 4,391 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $22.78 per share, with a total value of $100,026.98. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 12,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,292.08. This trade represents a 54.58 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of APA

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of APA. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of APA by 12.6% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 30,471,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $745,341,000 after acquiring an additional 3,411,270 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P boosted its stake in APA by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 24,914,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $609,414,000 after purchasing an additional 4,293,932 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of APA by 4.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,991,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,312,000 after buying an additional 485,291 shares in the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of APA by 3.5% in the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,667,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,466,000 after buying an additional 326,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in APA by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,307,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,928,000 after acquiring an additional 224,547 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:APA opened at $20.84 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. APA has a one year low of $20.45 and a one year high of $37.82. The firm has a market cap of $7.71 billion, a PE ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 3.18.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.12%.

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.