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

Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) have been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $37.17.

Separately, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Yelp from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th.

Yelp Price Performance

YELP stock opened at $35.49 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $37.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.67. The company has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.48, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.40. Yelp has a 1-year low of $32.56 and a 1-year high of $41.72.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The local business review company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $361.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $350.73 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 18.07% and a net margin of 9.41%. On average, analysts anticipate that Yelp will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In other news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 21,989 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total transaction of $785,007.30. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 153,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,467,776.30. The trade was a 12.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Carmen Amara sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total value of $49,740.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 107,207 shares in the company, valued at $3,554,984.12. The trade was a 1.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 57,727 shares of company stock worth $2,083,317. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Yelp by 82.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 637 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Avion Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Yelp by 1,963.6% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 908 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Yelp by 76.5% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,094 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new stake in Yelp in the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Yelp by 75.9% during the 4th 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 period. 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.