Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. Makes New Investment in YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF)

Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. bought a new stake in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 66,370 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock, valued at approximately $2,821,000. YPF Sociedad Anónima comprises about 1.2% of Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in YPF Sociedad Anónima by 335.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,091,392 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $46,395,000 after purchasing an additional 840,842 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima in the 4th quarter worth about $2,927,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in YPF Sociedad Anónima during the 4th quarter worth $2,244,000. Fourth Sail Capital LP bought a new position in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima during the fourth quarter worth about $5,667,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,427 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. 10.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on YPF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded YPF Sociedad Anónima from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $25.00 to $59.50 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. HSBC upgraded shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $33.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised YPF Sociedad Anónima to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.73.

YPF Sociedad Anónima Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:YPF traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $30.37. 2,336,468 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,103,882. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.88. YPF Sociedad Anónima has a 52-week low of $16.18 and a 52-week high of $47.43. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $32.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.00. The company has a market capitalization of $11.95 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.89.

YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 7th. The oil and gas exploration company reported ($0.74) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($1.25). YPF Sociedad Anónima had a net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 32.76%. The firm had revenue of $4.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.86 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that YPF Sociedad Anónima will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About YPF Sociedad Anónima

YPF Sociedad Anónima, an energy company, engages in the oil and gas upstream and downstream activities in Argentina. Its upstream operations include the exploration, exploitation, and production of crude oil, and natural gas. The company's downstream operations include petrochemical production and crude oil refining; transportation and distribution refined and petrochemical products; commercialization of crude oil, petrochemical products, and specialties.