Nuveen Asset Management LLC Sells 68,707 Shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA - Free Report) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 648,692 shares of the company's stock after selling 68,707 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned about 0.18% of APA worth $14,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APA. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of APA by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,230,751 shares of the company's stock valued at $305,498,000 after purchasing an additional 850,052 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in APA by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,886,087 shares of the company's stock valued at $297,540,000 after buying an additional 894,574 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in APA by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,507,956 shares of the company's stock valued at $219,016,000 after buying an additional 200,770 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in APA by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,186,244 shares of the company's stock worth $142,823,000 after buying an additional 1,540,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of APA by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,092,666 shares of the company's stock worth $94,500,000 after acquiring an additional 929,770 shares in the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on APA shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on APA from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Raymond James lowered APA from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on APA from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of APA in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of APA from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, APA presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $25.58.

APA Price Performance

Shares of APA stock traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $17.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 898,654 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,974,720. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm's 50-day moving average is $16.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.36. APA Co. has a 1-year low of $13.58 and a 1-year high of $33.41. The company has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.18.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.23. APA had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 24.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that APA Co. will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.80%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 22nd. APA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.