Candriam S.C.A. Increases Stake in YPF Sociedad Anónima $YPF

Candriam S.C.A. increased its stake in YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF) by 202.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 444,000 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 297,000 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in YPF Sociedad Anónima were worth $20,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in YPF. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in YPF Sociedad Anónima during the 1st quarter worth about $561,000. Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima by 26.0% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,087 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 3,733 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima by 17.3% in the second quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 58,919 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $2,000,000 after purchasing an additional 8,711 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima by 161.2% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 568,507 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $17,880,000 after purchasing an additional 350,842 shares during the period. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP boosted its position in YPF Sociedad Anónima by 5.2% in the second quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 317,889 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $10,525,000 after buying an additional 15,760 shares during the last quarter. 10.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at YPF Sociedad Anónima

In other YPF Sociedad Anónima news, CEO Horacio Daniel Marin purchased 2,840 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $46.35 per share, with a total value of $131,634.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 92,193 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,273,145.55. This represents a 3.18% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Matias Osvaldo Farina bought 8,875 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $45.22 per share, for a total transaction of $401,327.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president owned 55,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,518,166.14. The trade was a 18.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 11,792 shares of company stock worth $537,153.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on YPF. Zacks Research lowered shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group boosted their price target on YPF Sociedad Anónima from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

YPF Sociedad Anónima Price Performance

Shares of YPF stock traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $47.56. 587,895 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,577,685. YPF Sociedad Anónima has a fifty-two week low of $22.82 and a fifty-two week high of $57.49. The firm has a market cap of $18.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.73 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $48.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.23.

YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.04 billion. YPF Sociedad Anónima had a negative net margin of 2.16% and a positive return on equity of 1.11%. Sell-side analysts forecast that YPF Sociedad Anónima will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

YPF Sociedad Anónima Company Profile

YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE: YPF) is an integrated oil and gas company headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The company’s primary businesses encompass upstream exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, midstream transportation and storage, and downstream refining and distribution. YPF operates several major refineries and a nationwide network of service stations, supplying fuels, lubricants, and petrochemical products to both retail and industrial customers.

Founded in 1922 as Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales, YPF was the world’s first state‐owned oil company.