Blue Trust Inc. Has $123,000 Position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 95.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,035 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,454 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in APA were worth $123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,411,270 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P grew its stake in APA by 20.8% during the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 24,914,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $609,414,000 after purchasing an additional 4,293,932 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of APA by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,991,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,312,000 after acquiring an additional 485,291 shares in the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in APA by 3.5% in the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,667,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,466,000 after purchasing an additional 326,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in APA by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,307,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,928,000 after buying an additional 224,547 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on APA shares. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of APA from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Susquehanna cut their target price on APA from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Bernstein Bank decreased their price target on APA from $30.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on APA from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on APA from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, APA currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.65.

APA Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of APA stock opened at $21.64 on Friday. APA Co. has a 1 year low of $20.32 and a 1 year high of $36.04. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 3.15.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, 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 4.62%. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other APA news, Director Juliet S. Ellis purchased 4,391 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $22.78 per share, for a total transaction of $100,026.98. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,436 shares in the company, valued at $283,292.08. The trade was a 54.58 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.