Man Group plc Takes Position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Man Group plc bought a new stake in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 26,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $601,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of APA by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,230,751 shares of the company's stock valued at $305,498,000 after purchasing an additional 850,052 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in APA by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,886,087 shares of the company's stock worth $297,540,000 after purchasing an additional 894,574 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of APA by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,507,956 shares of the company's stock valued at $219,016,000 after acquiring an additional 200,770 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,186,244 shares of the company's stock worth $142,823,000 after buying an additional 1,540,055 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of APA by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,092,666 shares of the company's stock worth $94,500,000 after purchasing an additional 929,770 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Susquehanna cut their price target on APA from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of APA from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of APA from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of APA from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on APA from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $25.58.

APA Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of APA stock traded down $0.09 on Friday, reaching $17.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 898,654 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,974,720. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $16.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.36. APA Co. has a 52 week low of $13.58 and a 52 week high of $33.41. The company has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. APA had a net margin of 24.36% and a return on equity of 27.86%. The company's revenue was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that APA Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.80%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 22nd. APA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.