APA (NASDAQ:APA) Given New $40.00 Price Target at Evercore

APA (NASDAQ:APA) had its price target boosted by Evercore from $25.00 to $40.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. Evercore currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Roth Mkm upped their target price on APA from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on APA from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on APA from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on APA from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on APA from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.69.

APA Stock Up 4.5%

APA stock opened at $40.80 on Tuesday. APA has a fifty-two week low of $13.58 and a fifty-two week high of $41.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.10. The stock has a market cap of $14.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23 and a beta of 0.67.

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

APA Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of APA

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in APA. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of APA by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 33,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 2,070 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in APA by 49.6% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 3,578 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in APA by 43.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,668,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,092,000 after acquiring an additional 806,252 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in APA by 10.6% during 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, Creative Planning lifted its holdings in APA by 101.6% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 141,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,593,000 after purchasing an additional 71,451 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More APA News

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

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.