Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Sells 1,863 Shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS trimmed its position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 78,662 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,863 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in APA were worth $1,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in APA by 187.9% during the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $715,000 after buying an additional 20,199 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of APA by 53.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 102,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,374,000 after acquiring an additional 35,716 shares during the last quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of APA during the 4th quarter valued at about $270,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of APA during the fourth quarter worth about $1,005,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of APA by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 16,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 5,798 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on APA shares. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of APA from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group reduced their target price on APA from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Mizuho dropped their price target on APA from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on APA from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.60.

APA Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ APA opened at $20.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $7.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 3.26. APA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $17.66 and a fifty-two week high of $36.05. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24.

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

APA Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 22nd. APA’s payout ratio is 44.25%.

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.