YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF) Shares Gap Up - Here's Why

YPF Sociedad Anónima (NYSE:YPF - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $45.32, but opened at $47.42. YPF Sociedad Anónima shares last traded at $46.65, with a volume of 500,181 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

YPF Sociedad Anónima Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company's fifty day moving average price is $38.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.82. The company has a market cap of $18.05 billion, a PE ratio of 23.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.13 and a beta of 1.91.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On YPF Sociedad Anónima

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in YPF Sociedad Anónima by 6,194.9% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 947,260 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $19,059,000 after buying an additional 932,212 shares during the period. Duquesne Family Office LLC bought a new position in YPF Sociedad Anónima in the 2nd quarter worth about $12,845,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in YPF Sociedad Anónima during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,890,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima by 1,685.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 312,293 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $6,624,000 after buying an additional 294,803 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of YPF Sociedad Anónima by 1,119.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 250,550 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $5,314,000 after buying an additional 230,001 shares in the last quarter. 10.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

YPF Sociedad Anónima Company 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.