APA (NASDAQ:APA) Price Target Cut to $41.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

APA (NASDAQ:APA) had its price target reduced by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research note issued on Friday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 24.20% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on APA. Zacks Research cut APA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of APA from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of APA from $43.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of APA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of APA from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, APA presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.96.

APA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:APA traded down $0.41 on Friday, hitting $33.01. 7,567,703 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,391,444. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $37.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.69 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. APA has a one year low of $17.86 and a one year high of $45.66.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. APA had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 17.38%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.06 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that APA will post 5.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of APA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total transaction of $392,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 66,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,675,072.40. This trade represents a 12.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its holdings in APA by 520.8% during the 1st quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new position in APA in the first quarter worth $28,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of APA during the first quarter worth $44,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its holdings in shares of APA by 36.7% during the first quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC increased its stake in shares of APA by 115.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

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.