APA (NASDAQ:APA) Shares Down 3.9% After Analyst Downgrade

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA)’s share price fell 3.9% during trading on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $26.00 to $25.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. APA traded as low as $25.42 and last traded at $25.4920. 1,462,146 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 5,482,449 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.54.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on APA. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of APA from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on APA from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on APA from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 5th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on APA from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research report on Wednesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.39.

Key APA News

Here are the key news stories impacting APA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company-reported positives — APA repurchased 2.7 million shares in 4Q25 at an average $24.17 and reported a pre-tax net gain of $193 million on oil & gas purchases/sales, supporting shareholder value and liquidity. QuiverQuant bulletin
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan trimmed its price target to $25 and kept a neutral rating — a modest PT cut that signals limited upside from recent levels. MarketScreener
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies raised its target to $22 and maintains a hold — another relatively muted analyst view that keeps expectations around current levels. MarketScreener
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks downgraded APA from Hold to Strong Sell and trimmed near-term EPS estimates — a steep sell-side view that increases downside pressure and may prompt selling by quantitatively driven funds. Zacks.com
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays reaffirmed an underweight stance (downgrade coverage) — another influential bank signaling limited conviction, adding to negative sentiment. MSN/coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman raised its PT to $23 but kept a Sell rating — the maintained sell call reinforces downside expectations from a major sell-side voice. MarketScreener
• Negative Sentiment: Operational headwinds disclosed in APA’s 4Q25 supplemental info — the company curtailed ~91 MMcf/d of U.S. gas and ~7,600 b/d of NGLs due to weak hub prices and recorded $36M of transaction/reorganization costs; these factors directly weigh on near-term results. GlobeNewswire

Hedge Funds Weigh In On APA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in APA by 869.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 194,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,872,000 after buying an additional 174,369 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of APA by 38.8% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 284,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,199,000 after acquiring an additional 79,451 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of APA by 33.3% in the second quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 400,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,316,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of APA by 98.7% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 51,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $950,000 after acquiring an additional 25,787 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in shares of APA by 22.0% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 914,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,729,000 after purchasing an additional 165,006 shares in the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

APA Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $25.02 and a 200-day moving average of $23.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $9.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.14, a P/E/G ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 0.74.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.19. APA had a net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 19.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that APA Corporation will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.04%.

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.