APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) Stake Lowered by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp reduced its stake in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 23.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,859 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,442 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in APA were worth $412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in shares of APA by 77.9% in the 4th 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 lifted its stake in shares of APA by 93.5% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of APA by 48.8% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank lifted its stake in shares of APA by 355.0% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 2,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,775 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Juliet S. Ellis bought 4,391 shares of APA stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of APA from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of APA from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. 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 research report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of APA from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of APA from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.80.

APA Stock Performance

NASDAQ APA opened at $18.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 3.26. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.83. APA Co. has a twelve month low of $18.00 and a twelve month high of $36.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $2.50 billion during 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, research analysts forecast that APA Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.39%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is 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.