First Trust Advisors LP Raises Stock Holdings in APA Corporation $APA

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) by 23.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,710,405 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 522,947 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in APA were worth $49,573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 19.6% during the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its position in APA by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 104,858 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,918,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. lifted its stake in APA by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 11,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 44,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $808,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank increased its stake in shares of APA by 0.7% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 89,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,884,000 after acquiring an additional 644 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of APA from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on APA from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on APA from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on APA from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of APA from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, APA currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.45.

APA Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of APA opened at $26.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.28, a PEG ratio of 7.26 and a beta of 0.75. APA Corporation has a 12 month low of $13.58 and a 12 month high of $27.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $24.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.19. APA had a return on equity of 19.86% and a net margin of 15.49%.The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that APA Corporation will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.