Ritholtz Wealth Management Trims Stock Position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR)

Ritholtz Wealth Management trimmed its holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Free Report) by 11.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 191,415 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after selling 25,747 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras were worth $2,745,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 31.3% during the first quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 398,900 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $5,720,000 after purchasing an additional 95,100 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 520,911 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $7,470,000 after buying an additional 94,165 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. purchased a new position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras during the first quarter valued at $97,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC bought a new stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the first quarter worth $169,000. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 3.6% in the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 58,125 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $834,000 after acquiring an additional 2,012 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PBR. Jefferies Financial Group raised Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $15.30 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. HSBC raised shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $15.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of 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 given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $17.47.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PBR traded down $0.07 during trading on Thursday, reaching $13.01. 21,208,202 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,893,929. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.97. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a 52-week low of $11.03 and a 52-week high of $15.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.81 billion, a PE ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a -- dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $0.2806 dividend. This is an increase from Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras's previous -- dividend of $0.24. This represents a dividend yield of 17.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.88%.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Company 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.