Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.5714.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 price target on shares of Yelp in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Yelp in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Yelp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Evercore set a $30.00 target price on shares of Yelp in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th.

Yelp Stock Performance

NYSE YELP opened at $21.58 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Yelp has a fifty-two week low of $19.60 and a fifty-two week high of $34.49. The business has a fifty day moving average of $24.93 and a 200-day moving average of $24.47. The stock has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.43.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The local business review company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.21. Yelp had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 8.59%.The business had revenue of $375.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $366.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Yelp will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In other news, CTO Alexander Coleman Levy sold 3,829 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.40, for a total transaction of $89,598.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 54,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,266,501.60. The trade was a 6.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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, CFO David Schwarzbach sold 8,809 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.19, for a total transaction of $204,280.71. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 180,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,185,006.54. This represents a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 13,138 shares of company stock valued at $304,949 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Yelp by 100.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Yelp by 71.3% during 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. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings 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 worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Yelp by 181.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Yelp during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.