Larson Financial Group LLC Cuts Holdings in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Larson Financial Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 54,841 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,704 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in APA were worth $1,968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of APA by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,719,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,714,656,000 after acquiring an additional 2,003,862 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of APA by 130.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,534,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,037,000 after purchasing an additional 867,257 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of APA by 1,527.3% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 921,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,880,000 after purchasing an additional 865,026 shares during the period. Smead Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of APA by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,235,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,866,000 after purchasing an additional 626,460 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of APA by 8,888.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 549,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,587,000 after purchasing an additional 543,438 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Price Performance

NASDAQ APA traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $32.28. The stock had a trading volume of 3,025,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,816,238. APA Co. has a 52-week low of $29.47 and a 52-week high of $46.15. The company has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 3.27. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. APA had a net margin of 34.95% and a return on equity of 62.64%. APA’s quarterly revenue was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.48 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that APA Co. will post 4.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on APA. Johnson Rice cut APA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on APA from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on APA from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on APA from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on APA from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, APA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.10.

APA Company 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.