APA Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:APA)
by Sarita Garza · The Markets DailyAPA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA – Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 17,525 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 55% compared to the typical volume of 11,274 call options.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research firms have recently commented on APA. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of APA in a report on Monday, December 29th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on APA from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on APA from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of APA from $22.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of APA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.81.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on APA
APA Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ APA traded up $1.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $43.97. 3,961,908 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,835,884. The company has a market cap of $15.53 billion, a PE ratio of 11.02 and a beta of 0.67. APA has a twelve month low of $13.58 and a twelve month high of $44.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.33.
APA (NASDAQ:APA – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.29. APA had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 15.55%.The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that APA will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.
APA Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.06%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other APA news, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total transaction of $833,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,634 shares in the company, valued at $240,349.82. This represents a 77.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in APA by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,171,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,426,000 after buying an additional 3,117,032 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in APA by 157.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,060,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,869,891 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of APA by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,425,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,010,000 after acquiring an additional 1,864,900 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of APA by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,030,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,657,000 after purchasing an additional 1,674,739 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of APA by 29.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,462,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018,326 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
About APA
APA Corporation (NASDAQ: APA) is an independent exploration and production company engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas resources. The company operates through three core regions: the United States, Egypt and the North Sea. Through its integrated approach, APA combines geological and geophysical expertise with technical innovation to identify and develop hydrocarbons in both onshore and offshore settings.
In the United States, APA’s largest position is in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it holds substantial acreage dedicated to oil-focused drilling and production.