Hsbc Holdings PLC Takes $14.83 Million Position in APA Corporation $APA

Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 454,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,830,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of APA in the second quarter worth $1,173,231,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of APA by 6.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,376,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $695,099,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055,016 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in APA by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,710,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $359,807,000 after purchasing an additional 285,542 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in APA by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,425,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,010,000 after purchasing an additional 1,864,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in APA by 76.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,171,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,426,000 after purchasing an additional 3,117,032 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on APA shares. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of APA from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 17th. Mizuho raised shares of APA to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of APA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on shares of APA from $57.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of APA from $38.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.50.

APA Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of APA opened at $42.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.85 billion, a PE ratio of 8.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s fifty day moving average is $36.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.28. APA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $21.57 and a fifty-two week high of $45.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. APA had a return on equity of 24.84% and a net margin of 19.48%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that APA Corporation will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Profile

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.