Sanctuary Advisors LLC Purchases 2,790 Shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 23.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,468 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,790 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in APA were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of APA. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in APA by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 77,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,780,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in APA by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 31,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $765,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in APA by 84.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in APA by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 138,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,070,000 after acquiring an additional 544 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in APA by 48.8% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

APA Trading Down 8.7 %

Shares of APA stock opened at $18.89 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $22.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.90. APA Co. has a twelve month low of $18.66 and a twelve month high of $36.04. 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 stock has a market cap of $6.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 3.15.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.79 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 analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. APA had a net margin of 24.36% and a return on equity of 27.86%. As a group, equities analysts predict that APA Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.29%. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Juliet S. Ellis purchased 4,391 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $22.78 per share, for a total transaction of $100,026.98. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 12,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $283,292.08. This trade represents a 54.58 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on APA shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of APA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $42.00 to $25.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of APA from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of APA from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of APA from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of APA from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, APA currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.80.

About APA

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.