APA (NASDAQ:APA) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Hold

Zacks Research cut shares of APA (NASDAQ:APA) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on APA. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of APA from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of APA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of APA from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of APA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of APA to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.96.

APA Stock Down 2.3%

APA opened at $36.62 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $39.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.99. APA has a twelve month low of $16.88 and a twelve month high of $45.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.54 and a beta of 0.38.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.27. APA had a net margin of 17.38% and a return on equity of 20.70%. The firm had revenue of $2.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.06 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that APA will post 5.06 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 issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other APA news, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were 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 represents a 77.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total transaction of $392,392.00. Following 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of APA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in APA by 3.5% during the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 79,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,355,000 after buying an additional 2,703 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its position in shares of APA by 36.7% in the first quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Amundi bought a new position in shares of APA in the first quarter worth approximately $584,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of APA by 27.5% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares during the period. Finally, Empyrean Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of APA in the first quarter worth approximately $6,026,000. 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.