Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) have earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.17.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on YELP. StockNews.com raised Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Yelp from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Yelp from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Yelp to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th.

Yelp Stock Performance

Shares of YELP opened at $41.22 on Wednesday. Yelp has a fifty-two week low of $32.56 and a fifty-two week high of $45.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $38.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.26. The firm has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.68, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.34.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The local business review company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $360.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $360.74 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 16.02% and a net margin of 8.48%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Yelp will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yelp news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.29, for a total transaction of $382,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 211,988 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,117,020.52. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Carmen Amara sold 12,854 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.17, for a total value of $490,637.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 88,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,389,992.21. This represents a 12.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,865 shares of company stock valued at $2,167,768 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of YELP. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Yelp during the fourth quarter valued at $161,000. Stephens Inc. AR bought a new stake in shares of Yelp during the 4th quarter valued at about $595,000. Entropy Technologies LP increased its position in shares of Yelp by 57.6% during the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 24,537 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $950,000 after purchasing an additional 8,966 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its stake in shares of Yelp by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 16,385 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 1,812 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 334,962 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $12,963,000 after buying an additional 55,782 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Company 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.