Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Has $2.05 Million Stock Position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 86.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,608 shares of the company’s stock after selling 386,613 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in APA were worth $2,049,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in APA by 22.0% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,670 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. raised its stake in shares of APA by 8.3% in the first quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 15,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $542,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of APA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $102,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of APA by 171.4% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 9,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 23,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of APA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $454,000. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of APA in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of APA from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of APA in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of APA from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI cut shares of APA from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, APA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.52.

APA Stock Performance

Shares of APA stock opened at $28.09 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $30.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.14, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 3.24. APA Co. has a 52 week low of $27.17 and a 52 week high of $46.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.12). APA had a net margin of 34.04% and a return on equity of 45.32%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. APA’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that APA Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.19%.

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.