Rhumbline Advisers Trims Stock Position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Rhumbline Advisers lowered its stake in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 624,719 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,290 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.17% of APA worth $14,425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of APA by 12.6% in 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. Harris Associates L P increased its stake in shares of APA by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 24,914,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $609,414,000 after purchasing an additional 4,293,932 shares in the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 485,291 shares in the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of APA by 3.5% in the 3rd 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 increased its stake in shares of APA by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,307,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,928,000 after purchasing an additional 224,547 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Trading Down 3.5 %

APA opened at $22.79 on Friday. APA Co. has a one year low of $20.32 and a one year high of $36.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.43 billion, a PE ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 3.15. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $22.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24.

APA Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Juliet S. Ellis purchased 4,391 shares of the firm’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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APA has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho cut their price objective on APA from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on APA from $29.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered APA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup cut their price objective on APA from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on APA from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.65.

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.