Zacks Research Downgrades APA (NASDAQ:APA) to Hold

APA (NASDAQ:APA) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on APA. Evercore boosted their price objective on shares of APA from $25.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of APA from $45.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of APA from $37.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of APA from $29.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of APA from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.96.

APA Stock Performance

Shares of APA opened at $36.62 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.54 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s fifty day moving average is $39.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.99. APA has a 1 year low of $16.88 and a 1 year high of $45.66.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. APA had a net margin of 17.38% and a return on equity of 20.70%. APA’s revenue was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.06 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that APA will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other APA news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total transaction of $392,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 66,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,675,072.40. This trade represents a 12.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of APA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total value of $833,290.00. Following the sale, the director 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 36.7% during the 1st quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 106,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $689,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 14,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 94,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,303,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.