APA (NASDAQ:APA) Shares Gap Down - Here's Why

Key Points

• APA shares opened sharply lower, gapping down from $37.02 to $34.73 before trading around $34.95, despite no single operational event being cited in the headline.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mixed but broadly cautious: analysts have a consensus Hold rating on APA with an average target price of $41.04, even as several firms recently raised price targets.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $1.38 per share on revenue of $2.33 billion, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, implying a 2.9% annualized yield.

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $37.02, but opened at $34.73. APA shares last traded at $34.9520, with a volume of 861,407 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on APA from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on APA from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on APA from $26.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Zacks Research downgraded APA from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price target on APA from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $41.04.

APA Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $38.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 0.34.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.27. APA had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 17.38%.The business had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.06 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that APA Corporation will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 22nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 22nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. APA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other APA news, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of the firm'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 sale, the director owned 6,634 shares of the company's stock, valued at $240,349.82. This trade represents a 77.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Mark D. Maddox sold 9,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total value of $392,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 66,810 shares in the company, valued at $2,675,072.40. This trade represents a 12.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of APA

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in APA by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,376,952 shares of the company's stock valued at $695,099,000 after buying an additional 1,055,016 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in APA by 2.0% in 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 buying an additional 285,542 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted 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 buying an additional 1,864,900 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 3,117,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in APA by 1,726.2% in the 1st 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company's stock.

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.

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