APA (NASDAQ:APA) Price Target Raised to $43.00

APA (NASDAQ:APA) had its price objective lifted by Morgan Stanley from $22.00 to $43.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 2.14% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on APA. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of APA from $22.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Monday, March 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price on APA from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on APA from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Capital One Financial raised their price target on APA from $32.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on APA from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, APA has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.81.

APA Stock Up 2.7%

NASDAQ APA traded up $1.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $43.94. 3,747,480 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,832,036. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $30.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.33. The stock has a market cap of $15.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.03 and a beta of 0.67. APA has a 1 year low of $13.58 and a 1 year high of $44.38. 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 (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. APA had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 15.55%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that APA will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other APA news, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total transaction of $833,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $240,349.82. This trade represents a 77.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 891 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of APA by 115.1% in the 4th quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in shares of APA in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 179.6% in the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Camelot Portfolios LLC acquired a new position in shares of APA during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other 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.