APA (NASDAQ:APA) Stock Price Up 6.1% – Time to Buy?

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) rose 6.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $38.40 and last traded at $38.8570. Approximately 2,188,114 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 7,170,597 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.61.

APA News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting APA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Crude-driven rally lifted APA’s shares as Middle East supply concerns pushed oil prices higher, which typically increases exploration & production firms’ near-term cash‑flow expectations and valuation leverage. APA gains as crude oil jumps on renewed Middle East supply fears
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on APA to $38 (from $29) while keeping a “neutral” rating — the PT increase signals improved analyst near-term valuation (even though the firm remains cautious). MarketScreener
• Neutral Sentiment: Mizuho and a separate note reported modest upward adjustments to APA’s targets (Mizuho to $29; another report to $27). These lifts are supportive but still sit below some investor expectations and the current trading level. APA Price Target Raised to $27.00 Mizuho Boosts APA Price Target to $29.00
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data in the latest print appear anomalous (reported as 0 shares / 0.0 days), suggesting a data or reporting issue rather than a material change in short positioning; treat this item cautiously.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares at an average $36.23 (≈$833k), reducing his holdings by ~77.6% — an outsized insider sale that can weigh on sentiment. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: QuiverQuant’s summary notes sizable historical institutional reductions (e.g., Harris Associates, UBS AM, Blackstone) from recent quarters — large past selling by major holders can cap rallies and increase volatility. QuiverQuant institutional holdings

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APA has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens increased their target price on APA from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Mizuho upped their price target on APA from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on APA from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on APA from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, APA presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.52.

APA Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.83. The stock has a market cap of $13.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 0.67.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.29. APA had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 15.55%.The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that APA Corporation will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. APA’s payout ratio is currently 25.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total transaction of $833,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $240,349.82. This represents a 77.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of APA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in APA by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,321,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,786,000 after acquiring an additional 1,291,706 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in APA by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,710,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $359,807,000 after acquiring an additional 285,542 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of APA by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,425,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,010,000 after purchasing an additional 1,864,900 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of APA by 76.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,171,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,426,000 after purchasing an additional 3,117,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of APA by 29.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,462,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018,326 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

About APA

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.