Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 13,103 Shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its stake in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 20.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 52,537 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,103 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in APA were worth $1,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in APA by 84.1% in the third 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 last quarter. Riverview Trust Co lifted its stake in APA by 5,718.2% in the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 1,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in APA by 93.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC increased its position in APA by 86.8% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on APA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on APA from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $22.00 target price on shares of APA and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of APA from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James lowered shares of APA from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on APA from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.25.

APA Stock Performance

Shares of APA opened at $20.92 on Monday. 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 50-day moving average price of $21.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.90. The company has a market cap of $7.62 billion, a PE ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 3.26. APA Co. has a 12-month low of $17.66 and a 12-month high of $36.05.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its 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). The company had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 forecast that APA Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. 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 4.78%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.25%.

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.