APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) Position Boosted by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 27.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,418 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,399 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in APA were worth $471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harris Associates L P boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 20.8% in the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 24,914,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $609,414,000 after acquiring an additional 4,293,932 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in APA by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 30,471,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $745,341,000 after purchasing an additional 3,411,270 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 929,770 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of APA by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,886,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,540,000 after buying an additional 894,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of APA in the fourth quarter valued at $14,524,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on APA. Mizuho lowered their target price on APA from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of APA from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of APA from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of APA from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded APA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, APA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.60.

APA Price Performance

APA opened at $20.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. APA Co. has a 1 year low of $17.66 and a 1 year high of $36.05. The stock has a market cap of $7.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 3.26.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.18). APA had a net margin of 24.36% and a return on equity of 27.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. Analysts forecast that APA Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.96%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.25%.

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.