Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 130,086 Shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima $YPF

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its holdings in YPF Sociedad Anonima by 19.5%, selling 130,086 shares during the 1st quarter, leaving it with 537,043 shares valued at approximately $18.8 million.
• Despite the reduction in shares, several other hedge funds increased their positions significantly in YPF, with a standout increase of 742.6% by Sunbelt Securities Inc..
• YPF reported a missed earnings estimate for the last quarter, with earnings per share (EPS) of $0.13 compared to the expected $0.56, while forecasting an average EPS of 7.25 for the current year.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima (NYSE:YPF - Free Report) by 19.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 537,043 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after selling 130,086 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.14% of YPF Sociedad Anonima worth $18,818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in YPF Sociedad Anonima by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,145,571 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $91,208,000 after purchasing an additional 450,935 shares during the period. Duquesne Family Office LLC grew its holdings in YPF Sociedad Anonima by 292.4% during the fourth quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC now owns 1,687,716 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $71,745,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257,616 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in YPF Sociedad Anonima by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 1,587,869 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $67,500,000 after purchasing an additional 467,793 shares during the period. North of South Capital LLP grew its holdings in YPF Sociedad Anonima by 12.2% during the first quarter. North of South Capital LLP now owns 1,387,350 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $48,613,000 after purchasing an additional 150,366 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in YPF Sociedad Anonima by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 983,901 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $41,826,000 after purchasing an additional 196,037 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 10.08% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup upgraded YPF Sociedad Anonima from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $48.00 in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, YPF Sociedad Anonima currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.92.

YPF Sociedad Anonima Stock Performance

Shares of YPF traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $32.24. 256,038 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,941,018. YPF Sociedad Anonima has a 52 week low of $20.79 and a 52 week high of $47.43. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $33.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.84. The firm has a market cap of $12.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

YPF Sociedad Anonima (NYSE:YPF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.43). YPF Sociedad Anonima had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 6.32%.The business had revenue of $3.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that YPF Sociedad Anonima will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

YPF Sociedad Anonima Profile

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.