Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR)

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders purchased 171,050 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 334% compared to the average volume of 39,410 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 70.4% during the third quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 18,808,705 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $238,118,000 after purchasing an additional 7,772,595 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 2,234,730 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $27,956,000 after buying an additional 143,767 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC now owns 298,508 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $3,734,000 after acquiring an additional 57,437 shares in the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG purchased a new stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the third quarter valued at $1,342,000. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 7.4% in the third quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,994,268 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $25,247,000 after acquiring an additional 137,370 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on PBR shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from $14.40 to $14.60 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.97.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:PBR traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $15.41. The stock had a trading volume of 9,731,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,220,631. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a 1 year low of $11.03 and a 1 year high of $15.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $12.51 and its 200-day moving average is $12.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Research analysts predict that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 21.76%.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Company 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.