Hancock Whitney Corp Makes New Investment in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Hancock Whitney Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 6,672 shares of the local business review company’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Yelp by 0.9% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 221,288 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $8,177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,889 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Yelp by 4.3% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,695,536 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $99,600,000 after purchasing an additional 111,936 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in Yelp by 13.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 6,879 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares during the last quarter. Tredje AP fonden acquired a new stake in Yelp during the 2nd quarter worth about $705,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in Yelp by 159.4% during the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 169,786 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $6,274,000 after acquiring an additional 104,330 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 288,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,467,634.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,776 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $377,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 145,171 shares in the company, valued at $5,080,985. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total value of $253,680.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 288,842 shares in the company, valued at $10,467,634.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,776 shares of company stock valued at $863,590. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Price Performance

NYSE:YELP opened at $34.38 on Tuesday. Yelp Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.56 and a 12 month high of $48.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of 21.90 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $34.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.86.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The local business review company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.27. The business 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 was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Yelp Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

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.