Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Has $336,000 Stock Holdings in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC cut its holdings in APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA - Free Report) by 58.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,996 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,159 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in APA were worth $336,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of APA. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of APA by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,230,751 shares of the company's stock worth $305,498,000 after buying an additional 850,052 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of APA by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,507,956 shares of the company's stock worth $219,016,000 after purchasing an additional 200,770 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of APA by 33.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,186,244 shares of the company's stock worth $142,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,540,055 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of APA by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,297,871 shares of the company's stock worth $122,328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of APA by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,025,421 shares of the company's stock worth $92,947,000 after purchasing an additional 269,865 shares in the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on APA shares. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $22.00 target price (up from $14.00) on shares of APA in a report on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of APA from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Argus raised shares of APA to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of APA from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of APA from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $23.50.

APA Stock Performance

APA stock traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $19.19. 1,713,309 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,051,263. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.49. APA Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $13.58 and a fifty-two week high of $33.41. The stock has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.88, a P/E/G ratio of 6.27 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.23. APA had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 23.22%. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. APA's revenue was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that APA Corporation will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.21%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 22nd. APA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.97%.

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.