Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Sells 128,209 Shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lowered its position in shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA - Free Report) by 92.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,782 shares of the company's stock after selling 128,209 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in APA were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of APA. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in APA by 1,087.9% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,077 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in APA by 499.2% during the 1st quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,546 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,288 shares during the last quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of APA in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH acquired a new position in APA in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of APA during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $25.00 price objective (up from $23.00) on shares of APA in a report on Friday, May 30th. Argus upgraded shares of APA to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on APA from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of APA from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on APA from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $24.72.

APA Price Performance

Shares of APA stock traded up $0.65 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $18.94. 7,068,720 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,381,640. APA Corporation has a 1-year low of $13.58 and a 1-year high of $33.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $17.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.81. The company has a market cap of $6.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.81, a PEG ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 1.25.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.23. APA had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 23.22%. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that APA Corporation will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.28%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 22nd. APA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.97%.

About APA

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.