Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Trading 6.5% Higher – Time to Buy?

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) shares traded up 6.5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $22.88 and last traded at $23.1970. 86,457 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 93% from the average session volume of 1,319,698 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 price target on shares of Yelp in a report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Yelp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Yelp from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $27.88.

Yelp Trading Up 3.1%

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $25.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 10.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.53.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The local business review company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $361.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $353.47 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 20.19% and a net margin of 9.47%.Yelp’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Dan Jedda sold 1,464 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.02, for a total value of $30,773.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 17,100 shares in the company, valued at $359,442. The trade was a 7.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $250,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 227,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,698,975. This trade represents a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,864 shares of company stock worth $723,573. Company insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yelp

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Yelp by 73.8% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 562,739 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $13,922,000 after buying an additional 238,993 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Yelp by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 155,897 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $3,857,000 after acquiring an additional 2,883 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in shares of Yelp by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 77,597 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $1,920,000 after acquiring an additional 13,342 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Yelp by 36.1% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 79,142 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $1,958,000 after acquiring an additional 20,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Yelp by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 358,536 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $8,870,000 after purchasing an additional 44,087 shares during the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yelp Company Profile

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.