APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) Short Interest Update

APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 20,460,000 shares, an increase of 7.5% from the November 15th total of 19,030,000 shares. Currently, 5.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,440,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Juliet S. Ellis acquired 4,391 shares of APA stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $22.78 per share, with a total value of $100,026.98. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 12,436 shares in the company, valued at $283,292.08. The trade was a 54.58 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in APA by 12.6% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 30,471,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $745,341,000 after buying an additional 3,411,270 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P raised its stake in APA by 20.8% during the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 24,914,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $609,414,000 after purchasing an additional 4,293,932 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in APA by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,991,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,312,000 after purchasing an additional 485,291 shares during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of APA by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,667,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,466,000 after buying an additional 326,042 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of APA by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,307,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,928,000 after buying an additional 224,547 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

APA Price Performance

APA traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $22.86. 4,064,586 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,271,859. APA has a 52-week low of $20.95 and a 52-week high of $37.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.58. The company has a market capitalization of $8.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 3.18.

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on APA. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on APA from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of APA from $35.00 to $28.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of APA from $39.00 to $33.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on APA from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Bernstein Bank cut their price objective on APA from $30.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, APA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.52.

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.