Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Trims Stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. decreased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 60.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,476,500 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 2,259,300 shares during the quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 0.07% of Canadian Natural Resources worth $45,578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,550,104 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,857,337,000 after purchasing an additional 7,372,718 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 595.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,987 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $216,000 after buying an additional 5,982 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 296,424 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $9,151,000 after buying an additional 17,694 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 24,109,432 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $746,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270,945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 87.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,437,771 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $136,994,000 after acquiring an additional 2,064,492 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNQ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Tudor Pickering downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Scotiabank raised Canadian Natural Resources from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Raymond James raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Up 1.6 %

CNQ stock traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $30.53. 5,543,852 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,418,095. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $28.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a fifty-two week low of $24.65 and a fifty-two week high of $38.86. The stock has a market cap of $63.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 1.04.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 20.07% and a net margin of 18.45%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.4227 per share. This represents a $1.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.92%.

Canadian Natural Resources Profile

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).