APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) Shares Sold by Pinebridge Investments L.P.

Pinebridge Investments L.P. trimmed its position in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,207 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,549 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P.’s holdings in APA were worth $559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in APA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in APA by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,186,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,540,055 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in APA by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,092,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,500,000 after acquiring an additional 929,770 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in APA by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,886,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,540,000 after acquiring an additional 894,574 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in APA by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,230,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,498,000 after acquiring an additional 850,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in APA during the 4th quarter valued at $14,524,000. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

APA Stock Up 1.2 %

APA stock opened at $16.55 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. APA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $13.58 and a fifty-two week high of $33.41. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.47. The stock has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 2.74.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that APA Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. APA’s payout ratio is currently 44.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of APA from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 downgraded shares of APA from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of APA from $25.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $20.00 price target on shares of APA and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, APA presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.79.

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.