Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Purchases 24,350 Shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras $PBR

Key Points

• Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) by 150.6%, now holding 40,514 shares valued at approximately $581,000.
• Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has received mixed ratings from analysts, with upgrades and downgrades resulting in an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $17.26.
• The company reported $0.64 EPS for the last quarter, missing estimates, and also declared a significant dividend yield of 1,750% to be paid on December 1st.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Free Report) by 150.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,514 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after purchasing an additional 24,350 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras were worth $581,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PBR. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 8.0% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 256,098,882 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $3,672,458,000 after buying an additional 18,862,848 shares in the last quarter. Carrhae Capital LLP bought a new position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras in the 1st quarter worth about $64,765,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 21,755,839 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $279,779,000 after acquiring an additional 3,072,312 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,984,000. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras by 30.2% during the first quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 3,908,771 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $56,052,000 after purchasing an additional 905,800 shares in the last quarter.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of NYSE:PBR traded up $0.3750 on Friday, reaching $12.3250. 27,609,145 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,257,220. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.85. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $12.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras has a 52 week low of $11.03 and a 52 week high of $15.73.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (NYSE:PBR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 8th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.06). Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras had a net margin of 15.99% and a return on equity of 34.11%. The company had revenue of $21.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.78 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a -- dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th will be issued a $0.2471 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 25th. This represents a dividend yield of 1,750.0%. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on PBR. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of 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. Bank of America lowered shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Zacks Research raised Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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 research report on Thursday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $16.78.

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.