APA (NASDAQ:APA) Shares Down 5.5% – Should You Sell?

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA)’s share price fell 5.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $37.61 and last traded at $37.3340. 1,024,689 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 8,175,564 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on APA shares. Benchmark lifted their price target on APA from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on APA from $31.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Zacks Research upgraded shares of APA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Capital One Financial lifted their price objective on shares of APA from $32.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.08.

APA Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $13.11 billion, a PE ratio of 9.30 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $34.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.89.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter was down 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that APA Corporation will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

APA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 22nd. APA’s payout ratio is presently 25.06%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director directly owned 6,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $240,349.82. This represents a 77.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in APA by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,321,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,786,000 after buying an additional 1,291,706 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in APA by 2.0% during the 4th 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 during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in APA by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,425,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,010,000 after acquiring an additional 1,864,900 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in APA by 76.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,171,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,426,000 after acquiring an additional 3,117,032 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of APA by 29.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,462,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,349,000 after acquiring an additional 1,018,326 shares during the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.