APA (NASDAQ:APA) Rating Increased to Hold at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of APA (NASDAQ:APA) to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings cut APA from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of APA from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Roth Capital set a $39.00 target price on shares of APA in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of APA from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of APA from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.68.

APA Stock Performance

APA opened at $44.69 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $37.41 and its 200-day moving average is $36.74. The stock has a market cap of $15.66 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. APA has a twelve month low of $21.57 and a twelve month high of $45.66.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. APA had a return on equity of 24.84% and a net margin of 19.48%.During the same period last year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that APA will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On APA

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in APA during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,173,231,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in APA by 3,143.3% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 13,395,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,290,000 after buying an additional 12,982,685 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of APA by 1,726.2% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,834,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,176,000 after buying an additional 4,569,779 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of APA in the second quarter valued at $134,558,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. 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.