APA (NASDAQ:APA) Given New $34.00 Price Target at UBS Group

APA (NASDAQ:APA) had its price objective raised by UBS Group from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research note released on Monday,MarketScreener reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on APA. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on APA from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on APA from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of APA in a research note on Monday, November 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of APA from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Capital One Financial lowered their price target on shares of APA from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.00.

APA Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of APA stock traded up $0.30 during trading on Monday, hitting $31.99. 1,154,284 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,688,974. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $26.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.66. APA has a twelve month low of $13.58 and a twelve month high of $32.75. The stock has a market cap of $11.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.93, a PEG ratio of 13.88 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 (NASDAQ:APA) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that APA will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. APA’s payout ratio is presently 25.06%.

Institutional Trading of APA

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in APA by 76.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,171,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,426,000 after buying an additional 3,117,032 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,869,891 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of APA by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,425,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,010,000 after buying an additional 1,864,900 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in APA by 13.6% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,030,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,657,000 after acquiring an additional 1,674,739 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in APA by 29.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,462,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018,326 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

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.