APA (NASDAQ:APA) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Evercore raised their price target on the stock from $25.00 to $40.00. Evercore currently has a neutral rating on the stock. APA traded as high as $41.27 and last traded at $41.2190, with a volume of 2316708 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $39.03.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on APA. Stephens raised their price target on APA from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Zacks Research raised shares of APA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of APA from $29.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. TD Cowen raised shares of APA to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of APA from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, APA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at APA

In other news, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total value of $833,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,634 shares in the company, valued at $240,349.82. The trade was a 77.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting APA

Here are the key news stories impacting APA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays upgraded APA from underweight to equal weight, citing a better gas‑marketing/LNG outlook — a key catalyst investors are citing for today’s rally. Barclays upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: APA reported a natural‑gas discovery in Egypt’s Western Desert, which supports upstream growth prospects and near‑term production optionality. Egypt discovery
• Positive Sentiment: Reported short interest declined from ~34.5M shares to ~29.7M shares (as of March 13), lowering the days‑to‑cover to ~3.2 — fewer shorts can reduce squeeze risk and support upward momentum.
• Neutral Sentiment: Evercore raised its price target to $40 (from $25) but kept a Neutral rating — PT lift is constructive, but the maintained neutral view tempers upside expectations. Evercore note
• Neutral Sentiment: Several market pieces and technical writeups note APA’s strong multi‑year run and rapid recent gains, prompting debate over valuation and whether momentum is already priced in. Valuation discussion
• Neutral Sentiment: Some short‑interest data releases in the feed show 0 shares/NaN changes — likely reporting artifacts; treat those specific lines as unreliable until confirmed by exchange filings.
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman Sachs kept a Sell rating and marginally raised its PT to $30, and Truist started coverage with a Hold and $38 target — both targets sit below the current market price and may cap upside for cautious investors. Goldman note
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling reported (director sold ~$833k of stock) — not large enough alone to change fundamentals but can weigh on near‑term sentiment. Insider sale

Hedge Funds Weigh In On APA

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of APA by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,321,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291,706 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of APA by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,710,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $359,807,000 after acquiring an additional 285,542 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in APA by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,425,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,010,000 after purchasing an additional 1,864,900 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in APA by 76.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,171,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,426,000 after purchasing an additional 3,117,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of APA by 29.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,462,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,349,000 after buying an additional 1,018,326 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

APA Trading Up 4.5%

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $29.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23 and a beta of 0.67.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. APA had a net margin of 15.55% and a return on equity of 19.89%. APA’s revenue was down 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that APA Corporation will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. APA’s dividend payout ratio is 25.06%.

About APA

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.