Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 1,270 Shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its position in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 24,541 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,270 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in APA were worth $881,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in APA by 83.9% in the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 51,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,836,000 after acquiring an additional 23,341 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in APA by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 955 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of APA by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 297,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of APA by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 11,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of APA by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,841,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,093,000 after purchasing an additional 345,192 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on APA. Mizuho increased their price objective on APA from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on APA from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on APA in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Barclays decreased their price target on APA from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price target on APA from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.25.

APA Price Performance

APA stock opened at $30.72 on Wednesday. APA Co. has a one year low of $28.90 and a one year high of $46.15. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $32.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.15. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $11.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 3.29.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. APA had a net margin of 34.04% and a return on equity of 45.32%. APA’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that APA Co. will post 4.64 EPS for the current year.

APA 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.