Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Buys Shares of 52,796 YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 52,796 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock, valued at approximately $2,244,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in YPF Sociedad Anónima by 58.4% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,091 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in YPF Sociedad Anónima by 130.3% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,211 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 1,251 shares during the last quarter. Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A. purchased a new stake in YPF Sociedad Anónima during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $128,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in YPF Sociedad Anónima by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,829 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. 10.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YPF has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised YPF Sociedad Anónima from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $59.50 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup downgraded YPF Sociedad Anónima from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America raised YPF Sociedad Anónima from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $38.00 target price (up from $30.00) on shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised YPF Sociedad Anónima from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $39.16.

YPF Sociedad Anónima Price Performance

NYSE YPF traded up $0.89 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $37.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,249,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,251,650. YPF Sociedad Anónima has a 52-week low of $16.18 and a 52-week high of $47.43. The company has a market cap of $14.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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.