APA (NASDAQ:APA) Stock Rating Lowered by Raymond James

APA (NASDAQ:APA) was downgraded by investment analysts at Raymond James from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They presently have a $32.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $45.00. Raymond James’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 69.85% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. UBS Group cut their target price on APA from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of APA from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of APA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $42.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of APA from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of APA in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.15.

APA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:APA opened at $18.84 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $22.67 and its 200-day moving average is $23.62. APA has a 52-week low of $17.66 and a 52-week high of $36.05. The company has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 3.26.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.18). APA had a net margin of 24.36% and a return on equity of 27.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that APA will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Juliet S. Ellis acquired 4,391 shares of APA stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $22.78 per share, with a total value of $100,026.98. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 12,436 shares in the company, valued at $283,292.08. This represents a 54.58 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in APA by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 52,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of APA by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,877,000 after acquiring an additional 11,964 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of APA by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of APA by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 456,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,176,000 after purchasing an additional 13,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of APA by 14.6% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 55,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,357,000 after purchasing an additional 7,087 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Company Profile

APA Corporation, an independent energy company, explores for, develops, and produces natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids. It has oil and gas operations in the United States, Egypt, and North Sea. The company also has exploration and appraisal activities in Suriname, as well as holds interests in projects located in Uruguay and internationally.