Swiss National Bank Lowers Stock Position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,044,992 shares of the company’s stock after selling 56,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in APA were worth $24,129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harris Associates L P boosted its position in shares of APA by 20.8% in the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 24,914,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $609,414,000 after purchasing an additional 4,293,932 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of APA by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 30,471,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $745,341,000 after buying an additional 3,411,270 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in APA by 29.4% in 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 buying an additional 929,770 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in APA by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,886,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,540,000 after buying an additional 894,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in APA during the fourth quarter valued at about $14,524,000. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of APA opened at $20.03 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The business has a fifty day moving average of $22.22 and a 200 day moving average of $23.23. The company has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a PE ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 3.26. APA Co. has a 52-week low of $17.66 and a 52-week high of $36.05.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. APA had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 24.36%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that APA Co. will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.99%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is 44.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on APA. Raymond James lowered APA from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of APA from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of APA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $42.00 to $25.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of APA from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.70.

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.