GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Purchases Shares of 113,134 APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 113,134 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,612,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of APA. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in shares of APA by 1,087.9% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,176 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,077 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co lifted its position in shares of APA by 5,718.2% during the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 1,280 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in shares of APA by 77.9% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of APA during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of APA by 93.5% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,614 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on APA from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of APA from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of APA from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of APA from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of APA from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $45.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, APA currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $25.58.

APA Price Performance

APA stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $17.18. The company had a trading volume of 4,639,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,008,050. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $17.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.41. APA Co. has a 1 year low of $13.58 and a 1 year high of $33.41. 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 company has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.18.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.23. APA had a net margin of 24.36% and a return on equity of 27.86%. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that APA Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.82%. APA's payout ratio is 35.97%.

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.