APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) Shares Sold by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its stake in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 50.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,391,935 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,423,174 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.45% of APA worth $49,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in shares of APA by 61.0% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 305,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,968,000 after buying an additional 115,876 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in APA by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 41,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in APA by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 6,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 2,403 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in APA by 83.9% during the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 51,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,836,000 after purchasing an additional 23,341 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in APA by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 955 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of APA from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on APA from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Susquehanna boosted their price target on APA from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. StockNews.com lowered APA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on APA from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.10.

APA Trading Down 1.9 %

APA stock opened at $30.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $32.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.13. APA Co. has a one year low of $28.90 and a one year high of $46.15. The stock has a market cap of $11.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 3.29.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. APA had a return on equity of 45.32% and a net margin of 34.04%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that APA Co. will post 4.63 EPS for the current year.

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.