APA (NASDAQ:APA) Price Target Raised to $29.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

APA (NASDAQ:APA) had its price objective boosted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $23.00 to $29.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a sell rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on APA. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of APA from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. William Blair initiated coverage on APA in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on APA from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on APA from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of APA in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, APA currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.63.

APA Price Performance

Shares of APA opened at $32.97 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $27.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.20. APA has a 1 year low of $13.58 and a 1 year high of $33.78. The stock has a market cap of $11.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.50 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. APA had a net margin of 15.55% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that APA will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. APA’s payout ratio is 25.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of APA by 869.7% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 194,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,872,000 after purchasing an additional 174,369 shares during the period. United Capital Management of KS Inc. bought a new stake in shares of APA during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,214,000. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 38.8% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 284,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,199,000 after acquiring an additional 79,451 shares during the period. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of APA in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,337,000. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of APA by 2,049.4% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 403,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,797,000 after purchasing an additional 384,738 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

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.