APA (NASDAQ:APA) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

APA Co. (NASDAQ:APA) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 10,134,308 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 65% from the previous session’s volume of 6,135,694 shares.The stock last traded at $25.73 and had previously closed at $25.89.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI downgraded APA from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of APA from $34.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of APA in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of APA from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of APA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.81.

APA Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.49. The stock has a market cap of $9.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 3.26.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. APA had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 32.66%. APA’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. Research analysts predict that APA Co. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of APA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $308,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in APA by 12.4% in the second quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 908,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,758,000 after acquiring an additional 100,160 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in APA by 160.1% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 75,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,225,000 after acquiring an additional 46,535 shares during the period. IMS Capital Management bought a new position in shares of APA during the second quarter valued at approximately $318,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of APA by 44.0% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 38,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,140,000 after purchasing an additional 11,827 shares during the period. 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.