Virtu Financial LLC Trims Stock Position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Virtu Financial LLC lessened its position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,964 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,478 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 6,902.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,652,855 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $112,763,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600,686 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 73.3% during the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 7,834,264 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $260,116,000 after buying an additional 3,312,442 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 13,433,797 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $414,223,000 after buying an additional 3,224,548 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 63.5% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 8,233,388 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $273,417,000 after buying an additional 3,198,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,437,771 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $136,994,000 after acquiring an additional 2,064,492 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE CNQ opened at $31.13 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $29.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.17. The company has a market capitalization of $65.39 billion, a PE ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 1.48. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 12-month low of $25.62 and a 12-month high of $41.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a $0.4117 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.29%. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CNQ. Tudor Pickering lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Scotiabank raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Canadian Natural Resources from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.00.

About Canadian Natural Resources

Canadian Natural Resources Limited acquires, explores for, develops, produces, markets, and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company offers light and medium crude oil, primary heavy crude oil, Pelican Lake heavy crude oil, bitumen (thermal oil), and synthetic crude oil (SCO).