BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Acquires 567,572 Shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA - Free Report) by 531.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 674,298 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 567,572 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S owned approximately 0.18% of APA worth $15,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in APA by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 77,110 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,780,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of APA by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 138,991 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,070,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the period. Segment Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of APA by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 54,938 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,269,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in APA by 77.9% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,338 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in APA by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 10,762 shares of the company's stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

APA Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ APA traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $16.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,178,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,839,828. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 2.74. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $18.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.68. APA Co. has a one year low of $13.58 and a one year high of $33.41.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.18). APA had a net margin of 24.36% and a return on equity of 27.86%. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that APA Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.13%. APA's dividend payout ratio is 44.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of APA from $26.00 to $14.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on APA from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James cut APA from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $32.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on APA from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of APA in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, APA currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $25.79.

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.