Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) Shares Sold by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) by 65.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,217 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 153,258 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ecopetrol were worth $895,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EC. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in Ecopetrol by 0.9% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,291,956 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $145,537,000 after acquiring an additional 105,172 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 510,803 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,048,000 after purchasing an additional 5,844 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 272,126 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,045,000 after purchasing an additional 15,467 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its holdings in Ecopetrol by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 222,706 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,492,000 after buying an additional 14,476 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecopetrol in the second quarter valued at about $1,890,000.

Ecopetrol Stock Performance

Shares of EC opened at $8.74 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.88. Ecopetrol S.A. has a 1 year low of $8.55 and a 1 year high of $13.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.97 billion, a PE ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.20.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.15). Ecopetrol had a net margin of 13.92% and a return on equity of 6.64%. The business had revenue of $8.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.49 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Ecopetrol from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $12.00 to $8.50 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Ecopetrol from $11.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ecopetrol from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecopetrol presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $8.83.

Ecopetrol Profile

Ecopetrol SA operates as an integrated energy company. The company operates through four segments: Exploration and Production; Transport and Logistics; Refining, Petrochemical and Biofuels; and Electric Power Transmission and Toll Roads Concessions. It engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas; transportation of crude oil, motor fuels, fuel oil, and other refined products, including diesel, jet, and biofuels; processing and refining crude oil; distribution of natural gas and LPG; sale of refined and petrochemical products; supplying of electric power transmission services; design, development, construction, operation, and maintenance of road and energy infrastructure projects; and supplying of information technology and telecommunications services.