Investors Purchase High Volume of YPF Sociedad Anonima Call Options (NYSE:YPF)

YPF Sociedad Anonima (NYSE:YPF) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 10,983 call options on the company. This is an increase of 73% compared to the typical daily volume of 6,335 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On YPF Sociedad Anonima

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YPF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima by 194.9% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,898,315 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $154,052,000 after acquiring an additional 3,237,154 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in YPF Sociedad Anonima by 55.7% during the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,379,408 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $106,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208,440 shares during the period. Ping Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima by 88.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ping Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,482,200 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $46,615,000 after purchasing an additional 697,600 shares during the last quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC now owns 2,075,390 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $72,722,000 after buying an additional 387,674 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima by 125.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 651,384 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $15,822,000 after buying an additional 362,155 shares during the period. 10.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

YPF Sociedad Anonima Trading Down 3.4%

NYSE:YPF traded down $1.24 on Friday, reaching $35.77. The stock had a trading volume of 379,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,275,143. YPF Sociedad Anonima has a 12-month low of $22.82 and a 12-month high of $47.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $29.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.98. The company has a market cap of $14.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YPF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on YPF Sociedad Anonima from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, YPF Sociedad Anonima has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.60.

YPF Sociedad Anonima 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.