Benjamin Edwards Inc. Sells 41,456 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 75.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,682 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 41,456 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $422,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,550,104 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,857,337,000 after purchasing an additional 7,372,718 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 3,600,686 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 3,224,548 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,708,163 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $400,222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,939,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 34,052,775 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,051,210,000 after purchasing an additional 2,312,437 shares during the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNQ opened at $30.53 on Friday. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a one year low of $24.65 and a one year high of $38.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $63.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $28.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.81.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 18.45% and a return on equity of 20.07%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.4227 dividend. This represents a $1.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.54%. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Canadian Natural Resources's payout ratio is presently 63.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on CNQ. Scotiabank upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Raymond James raised Canadian Natural Resources from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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).

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