APA (NASDAQ:APA) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

Wall Street Zen cut shares of APA (NASDAQ:APA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Sunday.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on APA. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of APA from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of APA from $22.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of APA from $24.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Evercore boosted their price objective on shares of APA from $25.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of APA from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, nineteen have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.50.

APA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:APA opened at $40.13 on Friday. APA has a one year low of $15.20 and a one year high of $45.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 0.38.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.29. APA had a net margin of 15.55% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. APA’s quarterly revenue was down 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that APA will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. APA’s payout ratio is 25.06%.

Insider Transactions at APA

In other APA news, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of APA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total value of $833,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $240,349.82. The trade was a 77.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of APA. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of APA during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its holdings in shares of APA by 276.7% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of APA by 115.1% during the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in shares of APA during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.