HighTower Advisors LLC Has $5.02 Million Holdings in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 217,311 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,093 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in APA were worth $5,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of APA in the third quarter worth $281,000. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in 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 period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in APA by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 63,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,545,000 after purchasing an additional 5,202 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of APA by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 101,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,478,000 after purchasing an additional 13,266 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of APA by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,101,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,942,000 after buying an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

APA Trading Up 3.2 %

APA stock opened at $20.81 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $22.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. APA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $17.66 and a fifty-two week high of $36.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 3.26.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced 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). APA had a net margin of 24.36% and a return on equity of 27.86%. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. Analysts expect that APA Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. APA’s payout ratio is presently 44.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho decreased their target price on APA from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James lowered APA from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $32.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on APA from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of APA from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of APA from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.60.

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.