Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 213,100 Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Renaissance Technologies LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 777,200 shares of the local business review company’s stock after selling 213,100 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 1.15% of Yelp worth $28,718,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Yelp by 2.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,693,819 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $62,587,000 after purchasing an additional 33,046 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Yelp during the second quarter valued at $25,000. BOKF NA purchased a new position in shares of Yelp during the second quarter valued at $316,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Yelp by 6.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 106,972 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $3,953,000 after buying an additional 6,191 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Yelp by 132.7% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 27,094 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after buying an additional 15,451 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,776 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $377,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 145,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,080,985. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Yelp news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.25, for a total value of $232,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 281,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,371,246.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $377,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 145,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,080,985. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,776 shares of company stock valued at $863,590 over the last quarter. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YELP has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Yelp from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Yelp in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Bank of America started coverage on Yelp in a research note on Monday. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Yelp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Yelp has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.20.

Yelp Stock Performance

Shares of YELP stock opened at $34.40 on Friday. Yelp Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.56 and a fifty-two week high of $48.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.95.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The local business review company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.27. Yelp had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 10.01%. The business had revenue of $357.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Yelp Inc. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

About Yelp

Yelp Inc operates a platform that connects consumers with local businesses in the United States and internationally. The company's platform covers various categories, including restaurants, shopping, beauty and fitness, health, and other categories, as well as home, local, auto, professional, pets, events, real estate, and financial services.