APA (NASDAQ:APA) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

APA (NASDAQ:APA) was upgraded by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised APA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. KeyCorp set a $46.00 price target on shares of APA in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of APA from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Roth Capital set a $39.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Argus raised APA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.68.

APA Stock Performance

APA stock opened at $44.69 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. APA has a fifty-two week low of $21.57 and a fifty-two week high of $45.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.74. The company has a market capitalization of $15.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On APA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in APA by 240.5% in the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,662,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,727,000 after acquiring an additional 1,880,674 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of APA during the second quarter worth about $5,325,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC lifted its holdings in APA by 165.9% during the 2nd quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 2,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 1,616 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of APA by 3,143.3% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 13,395,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,290,000 after acquiring an additional 12,982,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in shares of APA by 180.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 27,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $915,000 after acquiring an additional 17,599 shares in the last quarter. 83.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.