APA (NASDAQ:APA) Price Target Raised to $46.00

APA (NASDAQ:APA) had its price target raised by Benchmark from $40.00 to $46.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on APA. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of APA from $44.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on APA from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on APA from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on APA from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on APA from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, APA has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.30.

APA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APA opened at $40.47 on Wednesday. APA has a fifty-two week low of $19.96 and a fifty-two week high of $45.66. The company has a market capitalization of $14.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.56 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. APA had a net margin of 19.48% and a return on equity of 24.84%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. Analysts expect that APA will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. APA’s payout ratio is currently 21.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 66,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,675,072.40. This represents a 12.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of APA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of APA during the 2nd quarter worth $235,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in APA during the second quarter worth $5,103,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of APA in the second quarter worth $14,830,000. Manatuck Hill Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of APA in the second quarter worth $326,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of APA during the second quarter valued at $17,450,000. 83.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.