Rakuten Securities Inc. Sells 73,377 Shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR)

Rakuten Securities Inc. lowered its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Free Report) by 51.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 69,743 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after selling 73,377 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc.'s holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras were worth $1,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 17,300 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 23,536 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,194 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $183,000 after buying an additional 1,269 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 43,486 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 1,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. raised its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 33,916 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 1,633 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PBR shares. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $15.30 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. HSBC upgraded shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $15.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Bank of America cut Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $17.47.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Stock Performance

Shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras stock traded down $0.07 on Wednesday, reaching $13.01. 21,208,202 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,893,928. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a 52 week low of $11.03 and a 52 week high of $15.73. The company has a 50 day moving average of $11.72 and a 200 day moving average of $12.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.81 billion, a PE ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a -- dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.2806 per share. This is a boost from Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras's previous -- dividend of $0.24. This represents a dividend yield of 17.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.88%.

About Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras

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.