The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts APA (NASDAQ:APA) Price Target to $31.00

APA (NASDAQ:APA) had its price objective lowered by The Goldman Sachs Group from $35.00 to $31.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sell rating on the stock.

APA has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of APA from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, December 7th. Scotiabank reiterated a sector perform rating and issued a $37.00 price target (down previously from $43.00) on shares of APA in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of APA from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a strong-buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of APA from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a positive rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of APA from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $43.61.

APA Stock Performance

Shares of APA stock opened at $34.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 3.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.51. APA has a 52 week low of $29.47 and a 52 week high of $46.15.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.33 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. APA had a net margin of 34.95% and a return on equity of 62.64%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that APA will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 19th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.78%.

Institutional Trading of APA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of APA during the 4th quarter worth about $102,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its position in APA by 171.4% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 9,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 23,648 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in APA in the 4th quarter valued at about $454,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in APA by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 41,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in APA by 340.4% in the 4th quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 125,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,488,000 after acquiring an additional 96,672 shares in the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.