Odyssean LLC Takes $3.16 Million Position in Yelp Inc. $YELP

Odyssean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 128,693 shares of the local business review company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,156,000. Odyssean LLC owned about 0.24% of Yelp as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Yelp by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Yelp by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,159 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Yelp by 71.3% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,158 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Yelp by 181.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 836 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Yelp in the first quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Alexander Coleman Levy sold 3,829 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.40, for a total value of $89,598.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 54,124 shares in the company, valued at $1,266,501.60. This represents a 6.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Christine Barone sold 15,507 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.95, for a total value of $355,885.65. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $365,547.60. This represents a 49.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,645 shares of company stock worth $685,185. 8.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Yelp Trading Down 0.2%

Yelp stock opened at $23.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.46. Yelp Inc. has a 12-month low of $19.60 and a 12-month high of $34.49.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The local business review company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $375.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $366.89 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 8.59%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on YELP shares. Zacks Research upgraded Yelp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Evercore set a $30.00 target price on Yelp in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Yelp in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $27.57.

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.