Wall Street Zen Downgrades APA (NASDAQ:APA) to Hold

APA (NASDAQ:APA) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Evercore increased their target price on shares of APA from $25.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of APA from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on APA from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on APA from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on APA from $44.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.88.

APA Stock Performance

APA stock opened at $32.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.54 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.84. APA has a one year low of $17.86 and a one year high of $45.66. 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 (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.27. APA had a net margin of 17.38% and a return on equity of 20.70%. The business had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.06 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that APA will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other APA news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total transaction of $392,392.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 66,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,675,072.40. The trade was a 12.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of APA by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 106,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in APA by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $689,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its stake in APA by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 14,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its position in APA by 520.8% during the 1st quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 596 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.