Benchmark Issues Positive Forecast for APA (NASDAQ:APA) Stock Price

APA (NASDAQ:APA) had its target price lifted by analysts at Benchmark from $40.00 to $46.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Benchmark’s price target indicates a potential upside of 13.24% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also commented on APA. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on APA from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of APA from $44.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of APA from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of APA from $43.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of APA from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.73.

APA Price Performance

APA stock opened at $40.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $35.24 and a 200-day moving average of $34.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. APA has a 12 month low of $19.84 and a 12 month high of $45.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.59 and a beta of 0.35.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). APA had a return on equity of 24.84% and a net margin of 19.48%.The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that APA will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at APA

In other APA news, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was 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 owned 66,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available through the SEC website. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of APA by 6.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 33,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $700,000 after buying an additional 2,070 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in APA by 49.6% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 3,578 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in APA by 43.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,668,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,092,000 after purchasing an additional 806,252 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in APA by 10.6% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 44,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 4,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of APA during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,199,000. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.