APA (NASDAQ:APA) Stock Price Up 7.7% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) shot up 7.7% during mid-day trading on Monday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $38.00 to $39.00. Truist Financial currently has a hold rating on the stock. APA traded as high as $40.51 and last traded at $40.5320. Approximately 2,151,594 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 7,006,245 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.63.

APA has been the subject of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of APA from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of APA from $57.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of APA from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Roth Capital set a $39.00 target price on shares of APA in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on APA from $43.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at APA

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 value of $392,392.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 66,810 shares in the company, 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 through this hyperlink. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in APA. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in APA in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,173,231,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 1,726.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,834,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,176,000 after buying an additional 4,569,779 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of APA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $134,558,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $175,426,000 after buying an additional 3,117,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of APA by 157.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,060,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,970,000 after buying an additional 1,869,891 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Stock Up 9.1%

The stock has a market cap of $14.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.67 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $35.12 and a 200 day moving average of $34.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. APA had a return on equity of 24.84% and a net margin of 19.48%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that APA Corporation will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.14%.

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.