APA (NASDAQ:APA) Given New $23.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

APA (NASDAQ:APA) had its price target cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $25.00 to $23.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on APA. Citigroup dropped their price objective on APA from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of APA from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of APA in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of APA from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of APA from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.25.

APA Price Performance

APA stock opened at $20.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 3.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. APA has a 52-week low of $17.66 and a 52-week high of $36.05. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.92.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.18). APA had a net margin of 24.36% and a return on equity of 27.86%. The business had revenue of $2.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. Equities research analysts expect that APA will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

APA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in APA by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 65,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,503,000 after purchasing an additional 12,077 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of APA by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 47,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased its holdings in shares of APA by 175.8% in the 4th quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 23,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 14,980 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of APA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $7,238,000. Finally, PVG Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of APA during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $757,000. Institutional investors 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.