APA (NASDAQ:APA) Price Target Raised to $39.00

APA (NASDAQ:APA) had its price objective raised by equities research analysts at Truist Financial from $38.00 to $39.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the stock. Truist Financial’s target price points to a potential downside of 4.61% from the stock’s current price.

APA has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of APA from $44.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of APA from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of APA from $38.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of APA from $57.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of APA in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.42.

APA Stock Up 8.7%

NASDAQ APA traded up $3.25 during trading on Monday, reaching $40.88. 2,634,604 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,008,896. APA has a fifty-two week low of $19.77 and a fifty-two week high of $45.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.45 billion, a PE ratio of 8.63 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.75.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. APA had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 24.84%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that APA will post 4.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total value of $392,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 66,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,675,072.40. This represents a 12.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On APA

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of APA. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of APA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $938,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in APA by 85.2% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 80,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,976,000 after buying an additional 37,180 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in APA by 59.4% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 112,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,761,000 after buying an additional 42,068 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC grew its position in APA by 753.2% in the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 136,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,345,000 after acquiring an additional 120,717 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in APA by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 193,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,723,000 after acquiring an additional 32,357 shares during the period. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

APA Company Profile

APA Corporation (NASDAQ: APA) is an independent exploration and production company engaged in the acquisition, development and production of oil and natural gas resources. The company operates through three core regions: the United States, Egypt and the North Sea. Through its integrated approach, APA combines geological and geophysical expertise with technical innovation to identify and develop hydrocarbons in both onshore and offshore settings.

In the United States, APA’s largest position is in the Permian Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it holds substantial acreage dedicated to oil-focused drilling and production.