D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Sells 217,430 Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 22.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 760,673 shares of the local business review company’s stock after selling 217,430 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned approximately 1.13% of Yelp worth $28,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of YELP. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Yelp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,718,000. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Yelp by 3,970.7% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 18,074 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 17,630 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Yelp by 80.0% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 35,572 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $1,685,000 after purchasing an additional 15,809 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yelp by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,497 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in shares of Yelp by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 214,505 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $10,155,000 after buying an additional 29,859 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on YELP. StockNews.com cut shares of Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Yelp in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Yelp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America started coverage on Yelp in a research report on Monday, September 16th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Yelp from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total transaction of $253,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 288,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,467,634.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,776 shares of the 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 owns 145,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,080,985. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total transaction of $253,680.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 288,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,467,634.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,776 shares of company stock worth $863,590. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Price Performance

Yelp stock opened at $34.91 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.34 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $34.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.77. Yelp Inc. has a one year low of $32.56 and a one year high of $48.99.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The local business review company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $357.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $352.98 million. Yelp had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.21 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yelp Profile

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.