LPL Financial LLC Purchases 65,378 Shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR – Get Rating) by 40.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 226,050 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,378 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras were worth $2,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras by 83.0% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 2,577 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,169 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras by 56.0% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,231 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras by 34.3% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,368 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 861 shares during the period. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.00.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Stock Performance

NYSE:PBR opened at $11.71 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $76.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $10.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.00. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras has a fifty-two week low of $8.88 and a fifty-two week high of $16.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (NYSE:PBR – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $30.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.03 billion. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras had a return on equity of 44.84% and a net margin of 28.50%. Analysts expect that Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras will post 3.38 EPS for the current year.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.551 per share. This represents a yield of 38.26%. This is a boost from Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras’s previous dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 28th. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras’s payout ratio is 46.11%.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Petróleo Brasileiro SA engages in oil and gas exploration, production, and distribution activities. It operates through the following segments: Exploration and Production; Refining, Transportation, and Marketing; Gas and Power; and Corporate and Other Business. The Exploration and Production segment involves crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas exploration, development, and production.