Peterson Wealth Services Takes $1.12 Million Position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Peterson Wealth Services bought a new stake in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 31,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,122,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lido Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of APA by 1.2% in the third quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 21,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $900,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in shares of APA by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 49,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,788,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of APA by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of APA by 7.1% in the second quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 4,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of APA by 30.7% in the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of APA traded up $0.27 on Thursday, hitting $32.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,100,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,863,140. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $32.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.73. APA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $29.47 and a fifty-two week high of $46.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 3.27.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.33 by ($0.18). APA had a net margin of 34.95% and a return on equity of 62.64%. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. APA’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that APA Co. will post 4.85 EPS for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 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 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of APA in a report on Monday. Mizuho dropped their price objective on APA from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on APA from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays initiated coverage on APA in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of APA in a report on Monday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.80.

APA 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.