Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Buys 36,528 Shares of Yelp Inc. $YELP

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 884,522 shares of the local business review company’s stock after buying an additional 36,528 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Yelp were worth $26,881,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Yelp by 100.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Yelp by 70.4% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,159 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Yelp by 181.3% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,297 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares during the period. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Yelp during the first quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Yelp during the third quarter valued at about $55,000. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Yelp Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of YELP stock opened at $22.74 on Friday. Yelp Inc. has a 12-month low of $19.60 and a 12-month high of $39.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $25.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.53.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The local business review company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.04. Yelp had a return on equity of 20.19% and a net margin of 9.47%.The firm had revenue of $361.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $353.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 7,500 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total value of $199,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 209,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,567,380. The trade was a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.72, for a total value of $29,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 267,835 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,881.20. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 27,900 shares of company stock worth $703,975 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 price target on Yelp in a report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 15th. 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. Evercore set a $30.00 price target on Yelp in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $27.88.

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.