Bridgewater Associates LP Acquires 195,319 Shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Bridgewater Associates LP grew its stake in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA - Free Report) by 73.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 461,386 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 195,319 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP owned approximately 0.12% of APA worth $10,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in APA. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in APA by 1,087.9% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co lifted its stake 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 period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake 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 valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of APA during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on APA shares. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of APA from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of APA from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Raymond James cut shares of APA from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $32.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of APA from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, APA currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $26.16.

APA Trading Up 4.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ APA traded up $0.66 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $15.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,365,402 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,783,291. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $19.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.84. APA Co. has a one year low of $13.58 and a one year high of $33.41. The stock has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 2.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.18). APA had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 24.36%. The company had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that APA Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. APA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.25%.

APA 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.