APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) Shares Purchased by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 326,615 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,964 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in APA were worth $11,719,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in APA by 5.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,719,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,714,656,000 after acquiring an additional 2,003,862 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in APA by 4.1% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 27,525,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $992,577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073,681 shares during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. raised its position in APA by 3.8% during the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,609,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,450,000 after acquiring an additional 167,934 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in APA by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,458,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,144,000 after acquiring an additional 153,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in APA by 6.7% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,655,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,097,000 after acquiring an additional 229,516 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Price Performance

APA stock opened at $35.05 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. APA Co. has a 1 year low of $29.47 and a 1 year high of $46.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $32.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.03. The company has a market cap of $10.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 3.27.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released 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 return on equity of 62.64% and a net margin of 34.95%. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. APA’s quarterly revenue was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that APA Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of APA in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of APA from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Johnson Rice downgraded shares of APA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, January 5th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 price target (down from $43.00) on shares of APA in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of APA from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.42.

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.