Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Stock Holdings Lifted by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 145,376 shares of the local business review company’s stock after buying an additional 2,974 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.22% of Yelp worth $5,626,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Yelp by 87.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 507,990 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $19,659,000 after buying an additional 236,400 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Yelp by 347.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 160,363 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $5,627,000 after acquiring an additional 124,561 shares during the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yelp in the 4th quarter worth about $4,279,000. Globeflex Capital L P lifted its position in Yelp by 558.9% in the 4th quarter. Globeflex Capital L P now owns 123,880 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $4,794,000 after purchasing an additional 105,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Yelp during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,189,000. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.34, for a total transaction of $36,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 223,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,122,426.08. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.51, for a total value of $395,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 191,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,585,445.88. This trade represents a 4.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,081,667 over the last three months. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Price Performance

Yelp stock opened at $35.63 on Friday. Yelp Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.56 and a 12-month high of $41.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.92.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Yelp from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.17.

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.