LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA - Free Report) by 45.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 265,054 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 82,453 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.07% of APA worth $6,120,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 894,574 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in APA by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,307,186 shares of the company's stock valued at $226,928,000 after acquiring an additional 224,547 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in APA by 29.4% in the fourth 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 period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its position in APA by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 1,532,360 shares of the company's stock worth $35,382,000 after purchasing an additional 88,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of APA by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,415,364 shares of the company's stock worth $32,681,000 after purchasing an additional 154,040 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research analysts have recently weighed in on APA shares. Raymond James downgraded APA from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "sell" rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of APA in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on APA from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on APA from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on APA from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.58.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on APA
APA Stock Performance
APA traded up $0.44 during trading on Friday, reaching $15.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,987,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,743,184. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company's fifty day moving average price is $20.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.27. APA Co. has a 52-week low of $13.58 and a 52-week high of $35.25. The company has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 2.74.
APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.31 billion. APA had a net margin of 24.36% and a return on equity of 27.86%. On average, equities analysts forecast that APA Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
APA Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.65%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. APA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.25%.
APA Profile
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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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