APA (NASDAQ:APA) Trading Down 4% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• APA Corporation's stock dropped 4% to a trading price of $22.89, with volume declining by 81% from its average daily rate.
• Research firms have given APA a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average target price of $23.72, despite a recent upgrade from Piper Sandler to a target price of $22.00.
• APA reported earnings of $0.87 per share for the last quarter, significantly exceeding consensus estimates and indicating a 14.4% decrease in revenue compared to the previous year.

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) dropped 4% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $22.91 and last traded at $22.89. Approximately 1,470,780 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 7,900,816 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on APA. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of APA from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Cfra Research raised shares of APA to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Argus upgraded shares of APA to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Roth Capital cut APA from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $22.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on APA from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $23.72.

APA Stock Down 4.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $19.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.93. The firm has a market cap of $8.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.60, a P/E/G ratio of 6.91 and a beta of 1.29.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.42. APA had a return on equity of 20.98% and a net margin of 10.53%.The business had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that APA Corporation will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of APA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in APA by 46.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,080,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $190,876,000 after buying an additional 2,894,543 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in APA by 157.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,060,135 shares of the company's stock worth $55,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,869,891 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in APA by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,297,871 shares of the company's stock valued at $122,328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,212 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in APA in the first quarter valued at $22,533,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of APA by 8.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,932,980 shares of the company's stock valued at $292,871,000 after buying an additional 1,046,893 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company's stock.

About APA

APA Corporation, an independent energy company, explores for, develops, and produces natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids. It has oil and gas operations in the United States, Egypt, and North Sea. The company also has exploration and appraisal activities in Suriname, as well as holds interests in projects located in Uruguay and internationally.

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