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

AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC) by 65.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor 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 SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EC. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 258.6% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,697 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,945 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 58.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,402 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 2,355 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecopetrol during the second quarter worth about $27,000. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ecopetrol by 5.6% during the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 59,397 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $665,000 after purchasing an additional 3,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecopetrol by 18.6% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 31,872 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 4,996 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Ecopetrol Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of EC stock opened at $8.74 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $9.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.97 billion, a PE ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.20. Ecopetrol S.A. has a 52-week low of $8.55 and a 52-week high of $13.14.

Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.15). Ecopetrol had a net margin of 13.92% and a return on equity of 6.64%. The company had revenue of $8.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.49 billion. Analysts expect that Ecopetrol S.A. will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.