AE Wealth Management LLC Trims Position in APA Corporation $APA

Key Points

• AE Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in APA Corporation by 52.5% in Q4, selling 212,032 shares and ending the period with 191,479 shares (about 0.05% of the company) valued at $4.684 million.
• Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 APA shares on March 18 at an average price of $36.23 (≈$833,290), reducing his personal holding by 77.61%; insiders now own about 0.69% of the stock.
• APA reported Q4 EPS of $0.91 (beating $0.62 est.) and revenue of $1.99B, declared a $0.25 quarterly dividend (2.8% yield), and carries an average analyst rating of "Hold" with a $38.65 price target.

AE Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA - Free Report) by 52.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 191,479 shares of the company's stock after selling 212,032 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC owned 0.05% of APA worth $4,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in APA by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,385 shares of the company's stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 785 shares during the period. Sunpointe LLC increased its position in APA by 76.8% during the 4th quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 25,986 shares of the company's stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 11,292 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its position in APA by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 106,886 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,614,000 after purchasing an additional 12,038 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in APA by 192.2% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 80,783 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,976,000 after purchasing an additional 53,141 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in APA by 95.4% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,868 shares of the company's stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 9,213 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total value of $833,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,634 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $240,349.82. The trade was a 77.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of APA from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Barclays raised shares of APA from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of APA from $22.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of APA from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of APA from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, APA presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.65.

APA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APA opened at $35.74 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. APA Corporation has a 12 month low of $15.15 and a 12 month high of $45.66. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.23. The stock has a market cap of $12.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96 and a beta of 0.49.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.29. APA had a net margin of 15.55% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that APA Corporation will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 22nd. APA's payout ratio is presently 25.06%.

APA Company Profile

APA Corporation NASDAQ: APA is an independent exploration and production company engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas resources. The company operates through three core regions: the United States, Egypt and the North Sea. Through its integrated approach, APA combines geological and geophysical expertise with technical innovation to identify and develop hydrocarbons in both onshore and offshore settings.

In the United States, APA's largest position is in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it holds substantial acreage dedicated to oil-focused drilling and production.

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