Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $19.60 and last traded at $19.6950, with a volume of 478600 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.20.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YELP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group set a $28.00 price objective on Yelp in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Yelp from $30.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Yelp from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $28.50.

Yelp Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $27.47 and its 200-day moving average is $29.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.85, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.55.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The local business review company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $359.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $358.70 million. Yelp had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 19.96%. Yelp’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In related news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.40, for a total value of $32,880.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 190,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,230,084.60. This trade represents a 0.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeremy Stoppelman sold 6,200 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.20, for a total transaction of $150,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 964,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,348,813.40. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 260,606 shares of company stock valued at $7,245,774. 7.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yelp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in YELP. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Yelp by 157.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 252,564 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $9,352,000 after purchasing an additional 154,612 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 0.7% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 76,376 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $2,828,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 2.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 208,551 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $7,723,000 after buying an additional 5,210 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 21.8% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 39,377 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $1,458,000 after buying an additional 7,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Yelp during the 1st quarter valued at about $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

About Yelp

Yelp is a digital platform that connects consumers with local businesses through user-generated reviews, ratings and multimedia content. The company’s flagship offerings include the Yelp website and mobile applications for iOS and Android, where users can search for and discover restaurants, shops, service providers and other points of interest. In addition to crowd-sourced reviews and photographs, Yelp provides business profile pages featuring hours, contact information, menus and direct messaging capabilities.

Yelp generates revenue primarily through advertising services sold to small and medium-sized enterprises.