California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Holdings in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 572,539 shares of the company's stock after selling 25,403 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.19% of APA worth $20,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of APA by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,246 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,193,000 after acquiring an additional 7,461 shares in the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in APA by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,237,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,412,000 after purchasing an additional 38,505 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its stake in APA by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 726,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,053,000 after purchasing an additional 90,610 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in APA by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,531,313 shares of the company's stock valued at $104,037,000 after purchasing an additional 24,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in APA during the 4th quarter valued at $11,050,000. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of APA in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of APA in a report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of APA from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $37.00 price objective (down from $43.00) on shares of APA in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of APA from $59.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $42.25.

APA Price Performance

Shares of APA stock traded up $0.23 during trading on Monday, hitting $32.72. The company had a trading volume of 4,258,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,795,526. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock's 50-day moving average is $32.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 3.27. APA Co. has a 52 week low of $29.47 and a 52 week high of $46.15.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.33 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.07 billion. APA had a return on equity of 62.64% and a net margin of 34.95%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.48 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that APA Co. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. APA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.78%.

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.