Bernzott Capital Advisors Has $4.51 Million Stake in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Bernzott Capital Advisors raised its holdings in APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 195,235 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,450 shares during the period. APA comprises about 2.2% of Bernzott Capital Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Bernzott Capital Advisors owned about 0.05% of APA worth $4,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 12.6% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 30,471,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $745,341,000 after purchasing an additional 3,411,270 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P lifted its holdings 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 valued at $609,414,000 after purchasing an additional 4,293,932 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 4.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,991,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,312,000 after purchasing an additional 485,291 shares in the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 3.5% in the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,667,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,466,000 after purchasing an additional 326,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,307,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,928,000 after purchasing an additional 224,547 shares in the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on APA from $39.00 to $33.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on APA from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bernstein Bank decreased their target price on shares of APA from $30.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of APA from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of APA from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.55.

APA Trading Down 1.2 %

APA stock opened at $25.15 on Friday. APA Co. has a 52 week low of $20.32 and a 52 week high of $36.04. The company has a market capitalization of $9.30 billion, a PE ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 3.16. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.58. 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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Juliet S. Ellis bought 4,391 shares of APA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $22.78 per share, with a total value of $100,026.98. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 12,436 shares in the company, valued at $283,292.08. This trade represents a 54.58 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.