Alliancebernstein L.P. Cuts Position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 480,365 shares of the company’s stock after selling 33,922 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.13% of APA worth $11,092,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in APA by 1,087.9% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,077 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 84.1% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 5,718.2% during the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 1,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in APA by 77.9% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in APA in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on APA shares. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of APA from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of APA in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of APA in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Susquehanna decreased 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $22.00 price target on shares of APA and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Four 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.68.

APA Trading Up 19.1 %

Shares of APA stock opened at $16.71 on Thursday. APA Co. has a 12-month low of $13.58 and a 12-month high of $35.25. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $20.37 and its 200 day moving average is $22.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.36 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 the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. APA had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 24.36%. Research analysts expect that APA Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.25%.

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.