Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras $PBR Stake Trimmed by ARGA Investment Management LP

ARGA Investment Management LP cut its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) by 6.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,680,229 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 1,294,948 shares during the period. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras accounts for 12.0% of ARGA Investment Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. ARGA Investment Management LP’s holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras were worth $366,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moran Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 535,044 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $6,340,000 after purchasing an additional 81,567 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 2,273.3% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 52,283 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 50,080 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the third quarter valued at $10,036,000. Provident Living Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the fourth quarter valued at $1,047,000. Finally, Oxbow Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the fourth quarter valued at $4,955,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PBR. Bank of America raised Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $18.70 to $24.80 in a report on Friday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $20.30 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.28.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE PBR opened at $17.32 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $18.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.25. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a 12 month low of $11.43 and a 12 month high of $22.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $111.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.33.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras had a net margin of 21.67% and a return on equity of 23.65%. The firm had revenue of $23.54 billion during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.1426 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras’s payout ratio is 11.04%.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Profile

Petróleo Brasileiro SA – Petrobras is a Brazilian, state-controlled integrated oil and gas company headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. Founded in 1953, Petrobras is principally engaged in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, and operates across the full value chain from upstream activities through refining, transportation and downstream marketing of petroleum products. The company is a major player in Brazil’s energy sector and is a listed public company with global capital market presence.

Petrobras’s core activities include deepwater and ultra-deepwater exploration and production, where it has been a pioneer in developing pre-salt reserves off Brazil’s coast.