Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) has received an average rating of “Reduce” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $37.33.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Yelp in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Yelp in a research report on Monday, September 16th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $38.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Yelp from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th.

Yelp Price Performance

NYSE:YELP opened at $34.61 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.33. Yelp has a 1 year low of $32.56 and a 1 year high of $48.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.32.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The local business review company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.27. Yelp had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The company had revenue of $357.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $352.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.21 earnings per share. Yelp’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Yelp will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yelp news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.02, for a total value of $238,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 255,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,083.16. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Yelp news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.02, for a total transaction of $238,140.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 255,558 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,083.16. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,776 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $377,160.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 145,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,080,985. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,776 shares of company stock valued at $848,050 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Yelp by 132.7% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 27,094 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $1,001,000 after buying an additional 15,451 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in Yelp during the first quarter valued at about $594,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in Yelp by 7.6% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 61,150 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $2,409,000 after purchasing an additional 4,306 shares in the last quarter. Ceera Investments LLC grew its stake in Yelp by 13.6% in the second quarter. Ceera Investments LLC now owns 173,597 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $6,414,000 after purchasing an additional 20,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC raised its holdings in Yelp by 11.0% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 189,864 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $7,015,000 after purchasing an additional 18,786 shares in the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.