Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras $PBR Shares Sold by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,139,752 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 2,737,100 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras were worth $239,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PBR. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 150.6% during the 1st quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 40,514 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $581,000 after acquiring an additional 24,350 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 14.8% in the first quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 23,812 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 3,074 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras during the first quarter worth about $3,083,000. Venture Visionary Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 8.4% during the first quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 201,932 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $2,896,000 after purchasing an additional 15,583 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. purchased a new stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the first quarter valued at approximately $474,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from $15.80 to $14.40 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.90.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PBR opened at $12.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $12.30 and a 200 day moving average of $12.40. The firm has a market cap of $78.49 billion, a PE ratio of 5.64, a PEG ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 0.53. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a one year low of $11.03 and a one year high of $14.98.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.03. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras had a net margin of 16.15% and a return on equity of 23.32%. As a group, research analysts predict that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th will be issued a $0.0658 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras’s payout ratio is presently 32.41%.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Profile

Petróleo Brasileiro SA – Petrobras explores, produces, and sells oil and gas in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Exploration and Production; Refining, Transportation and Marketing; and Gas and Power. The Exploration and Production segment explores, develops, and produces crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas primarily for supplies to the domestic refineries.