Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Lowers Stake in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,800 shares of the local business review company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Yelp were worth $1,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in YELP. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Yelp by 54.5% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,148 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yelp by 98.5% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Yelp by 76.5% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,094 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Yelp during the third quarter worth $54,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yelp by 75.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,717 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yelp Trading Down 8.1 %

YELP opened at $37.28 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of 22.33, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.33. Yelp Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.56 and a twelve month high of $45.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.53.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The local business review company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $361.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $350.73 million. Yelp had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 16.02%. As a group, analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on YELP shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Yelp to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Yelp from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.12, for a total value of $377,329.28. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 122,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,301,497.60. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.72, for a total transaction of $397,200.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 201,988 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,022,963.36. The trade was a 4.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 44,011 shares of company stock valued at $1,677,131 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

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.