Griffin Asset Management Inc. Sells 16,930 Shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 133,407 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,930 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in APA were worth $3,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of APA. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in APA by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 31,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $765,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of APA by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of APA by 1.1% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 46,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,372,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. Segment Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of APA by 1.0% in the third quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 54,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,330,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in APA by 84.1% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of APA from $39.00 to $33.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on APA from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank lowered their target price on APA from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on APA from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, APA currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.65.

Insider Activity at APA

In other news, Director Juliet S. Ellis bought 4,391 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $22.78 per share, with a total value of $100,026.98. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 12,436 shares in the company, valued at $283,292.08. This represents a 54.58 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

APA Price Performance

APA stock opened at $23.38 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $22.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. APA Co. has a one year low of $20.32 and a one year high of $36.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 3.16.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.12%.

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.