Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Takes $340,000 Position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 11,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in shares of APA by 26.8% in the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 24,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $714,000 after acquiring an additional 5,120 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in shares of APA by 6.7% in the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 6,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of APA by 131.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,813,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,704,000 after acquiring an additional 2,736,041 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of APA in the second quarter valued at about $809,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of APA by 12.2% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 193,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,684,000 after acquiring an additional 20,943 shares in the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

APA Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ APA opened at $25.07 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.09. The firm has a market cap of $9.31 billion, a PE ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 3.24. APA Co. has a 1 year low of $22.72 and a 1 year high of $43.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. APA had a net margin of 32.66% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 41.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that APA Co. will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.99%. APA’s payout ratio is 11.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of APA from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of APA from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of APA from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of APA from $35.00 to $28.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.38.

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.