Barclays Boosts APA (NASDAQ:APA) Price Target to $28.00

Key Points

• Barclays raised its price target for APA to $28.00 from $24.00 but maintained an "underweight" rating, implying roughly a 17.6% downside from the prior close.
• The analyst picture is mixed: the average price target is $30.08 with 7 Buys, 17 Holds and 4 Sells, while multiple firms (UBS, RBC, Piper Sandler, William Blair) have recently lifted targets or ratings.
• APA beat Q earnings and revenue estimates (EPS $0.91 vs $0.62; revenue $1.99B vs $1.89B), trades near $33.97 with a P/E of 8.5, and has high institutional ownership (~83%), indicating solid near-term fundamentals amid lower year‑over‑year revenue.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Barclays from $24.00 to $28.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,MarketScreener reports. The firm presently has an "underweight" rating on the stock. Barclays's target price indicates a potential downside of 17.57% from the stock's previous close.

APA has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on APA from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. TD Cowen raised APA to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. William Blair initiated coverage on APA in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on APA from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on APA from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Seven 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, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.08.

APA Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ APA traded up $0.36 on Friday, hitting $33.97. 1,200,351 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,150,854. APA has a fifty-two week low of $13.58 and a fifty-two week high of $34.22. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.26. 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 company has a market cap of $12.00 billion, a PE ratio of 8.50, a PEG ratio of 17.10 and a beta of 0.67.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. APA had a net margin of 15.55% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The company's revenue was down 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that APA will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of APA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APA. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of APA by 869.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 194,418 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,872,000 after acquiring an additional 174,369 shares during the period. United Capital Management of KS Inc. purchased a new stake in APA in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,214,000. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in APA by 38.8% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 284,275 shares of the company's stock worth $5,199,000 after purchasing an additional 79,451 shares during the period. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in APA during the 3rd quarter worth $2,337,000. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC grew its position in APA by 2,049.4% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 403,511 shares of the company's stock worth $9,797,000 after purchasing an additional 384,738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.01% of the company's stock.

Key APA News

Here are the key news stories impacting APA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler raised its price target to $37 (from $30) and kept a neutral rating, signaling ~10% upside vs. the prior price and lending near-term upside momentum to the stock. Piper Sandler Price Target Raise
• Positive Sentiment: American Banking News reported Goldman Sachs forecasting strong price appreciation for APA, which supports bullish investor positioning. Goldman Sachs Forecast
• Positive Sentiment: RBC Capital has recently raised its target (and highlighted APA among low-PE, high-dividend names), noting oil strength and earnings momentum as supportive factors. RBC Capital Note
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reports for early March show anomalous/zero values in the published feed (0 shares and NaN changes), which appear unreliable; current days-to-cover is effectively reported as 0.0 — treat this data with caution until clarified.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research issued a broad set of downward revisions across multiple quarters and fiscal years (Q1–Q4 2026–2027 and FY2026–FY2027), cutting several quarterly EPS forecasts and lowering FY2026 from $2.10 to $1.66 and FY2027 from $2.12 to $1.73. Zacks maintains a "Hold" rating. These cuts reduce near-term earnings expectations and represent downside risk to sentiment and valuation if other firms follow.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple Zacks note specifics: Q1–Q4 2026/2027 quarter estimates trimmed (examples: Q1 2026 to $0.36 from $0.54; Q3 2026 to $0.40 from $0.56; Q4 2027 to $0.32). The cumulative effect is a weaker near-term outlook despite consensus full-year estimates (~$4.03) remaining higher than Zacks' view.

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.

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