APA (NASDAQ:APA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Barclays

APA (NASDAQ:APA) was upgraded by Barclays from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $35.00 target price on the stock. Barclays‘s price objective points to a potential downside of 10.51% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research report on Monday, November 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of APA from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Johnson Rice raised shares of APA from a “hold” rating to an “accumulate” rating and raised their price target for the company from $35.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of APA from $23.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Benchmark upped their price target on shares of APA from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.80.

APA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:APA opened at $39.11 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $29.12 and its 200 day moving average is $25.87. The firm has a market cap of $13.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.80 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. APA has a 52-week low of $13.58 and a 52-week high of $39.52.

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

Insider Activity at APA

In other news, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total transaction of $833,290.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its stake in shares of APA by 276.7% in the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC lifted its stake in APA by 115.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in APA during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in APA by 179.6% during the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 977 shares during the period. Finally, Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new position in shares of APA during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.