Capital One Financial Lowers APA (NASDAQ:APA) Price Target to $50.00

Key Points

• Capital One Financial cut its price target on APA to $50 (from $51) while keeping an overweight rating, implying roughly a 39.9% upside from current levels.
• APA shares opened at $35.74 and were down about 5.7%; analysts’ consensus is a Hold with an average target of $38.65 (7 Buy, 20 Hold, 4 Sell).
• APA beat quarterly EPS expectations ($0.91 vs. $0.62) but reported revenue down 26.6% year‑over‑year, and a director recently sold 23,000 shares.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by stock analysts at Capital One Financial from $51.00 to $50.00 in a research report issued on Friday,MarketScreener reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Capital One Financial's price target points to a potential upside of 39.90% from the company's current price.

APA has been the topic of several other research reports. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of APA from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Barclays raised shares of APA from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of APA from $21.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of APA from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of APA in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a "hold" rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $38.65.

APA Stock Down 5.7%

Shares of NASDAQ APA opened at $35.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96 and a beta of 0.49. APA has a 12-month low of $15.15 and a 12-month high of $45.66. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $34.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

APA (NASDAQ:APA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. APA had a net margin of 15.55% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The firm's revenue was down 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that APA will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Matthew Regis Bob sold 23,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total value of $833,290.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $240,349.82. This trade represents a 77.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of APA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APA. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in APA by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,171,963 shares of the company's stock worth $175,426,000 after purchasing an additional 3,117,032 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of APA by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,425,586 shares of the company's stock worth $255,010,000 after purchasing an additional 1,864,900 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of APA by 13.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,030,230 shares of the company's stock worth $340,657,000 after purchasing an additional 1,674,739 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of APA by 29.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,462,476 shares of the company's stock worth $108,349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018,326 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting APA

Here are the key news stories impacting APA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $45 (maintained neutral rating), implying upside vs. recent levels and providing some support amid the selloff. UBS raises PT
• Positive Sentiment: Another outlet reports a raised target to $37, showing that at least some analysts are nudging expectations higher. Price target raised to $37
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage noting APA is going ex-dividend soon may attract income-focused buyers and support the share base around the payout date. Ex-dividend coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts expect APA’s Q1 results to show a modest, single‑digit profit dip — not a large miss, but a potential short-term drag if realized. Q1 outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: A press item about an APA-branded digital health resource appears unrelated to APA Corporation’s oil & gas business and is unlikely to move the stock. Digital health resource
• Negative Sentiment: Citigroup cut its price target from $45 to $40 and maintained a neutral rating; the downgrade prompted a pre-market gap down and is the primary near-term reason for the stock decline. Citigroup downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/newsflow: reopening of the Strait of Hormuz reduced some geopolitical premium on oil/supply risk, pressuring exploration stocks including APA. That broad market headwind is contributing to the drop. Strait of Hormuz story

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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