Investors Purchase High Volume of APA Call Options (NASDAQ:APA)

by · The Markets Daily

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA – Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 21,526 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 85% compared to the average daily volume of 11,614 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on APA. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of APA in a research note on Monday. Mizuho raised their price objective on APA from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on APA from $21.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Citigroup upped their price objective on APA from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on APA from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.90.

Read Our Latest Analysis on APA

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of APA by 0.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 94,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,303,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. one8zero8 LLC grew its stake in APA by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. one8zero8 LLC now owns 42,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,026,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of APA by 0.5% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 106,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,592,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in APA by 19.6% during the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in shares of APA by 2.4% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 24,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

APA Price Performance

APA stock traded up $1.11 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $26.56. 3,531,311 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,757,594. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. APA has a 12 month low of $13.58 and a 12 month high of $26.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.39, a P/E/G ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s 50-day moving average is $23.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.36.

APA (NASDAQ:APA – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.19. APA had a return on equity of 19.86% and a net margin of 15.49%.The company had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. APA’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that APA will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 22nd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

About APA

(Get Free Report)

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.

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