Strs Ohio Sells 15,000 Shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Strs Ohio lowered its position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 722,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,000 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in APA were worth $25,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in shares of APA by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 191,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,887,000 after buying an additional 10,631 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of APA during the fourth quarter worth $664,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of APA during the fourth quarter worth $287,000. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in APA during the fourth quarter worth $383,000. Finally, Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co bought a new position in shares of APA in the fourth quarter valued at $252,000. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of APA from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Johnson Rice lowered shares of APA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of APA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of APA from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of APA in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.80.

APA Stock Performance

NASDAQ APA opened at $33.16 on Tuesday. APA Co. has a 52-week low of $29.47 and a 52-week high of $46.15. The company has a market capitalization of $10.01 billion, a PE ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 3.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.81.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. APA had a return on equity of 62.64% and a net margin of 34.95%. The company’s revenue was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that APA Co. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. APA’s payout ratio is 10.78%.

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.