Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Stock Gets Price Target Trim from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) had its price objective reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $19.00 to $18.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an underweight rating on the local business review company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Yelp from $24.00 to $17.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Yelp in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Yelp in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Yelp in a report on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Yelp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yelp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.14.

Yelp Trading Down 0.2%

Yelp stock opened at $19.41 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $19.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.43. Yelp has a 12 month low of $17.26 and a 12 month high of $34.49.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The local business review company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $370.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $368.66 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 19.26% and a net margin of 8.29%. Yelp’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Yelp will post 1.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Yelp

In related news, CTO Alexander Coleman Levy sold 3,829 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief technology officer owned 54,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,266,501.60. The trade was a 6.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.19, for a total value of $204,280.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 180,466 shares in the company, valued at $4,185,006.54. This trade represents a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 28,638 shares of company stock valued at $614,249 in the last 90 days. 8.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Money Concepts Capital Corp grew its stake in Yelp by 16.9% during the third quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 96,925 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $1,793,000 after buying an additional 13,998 shares during the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in shares of Yelp in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System bought a new position in shares of Yelp in the third quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Lido Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Yelp by 27.0% in the third quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 10,891 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 2,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yelp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $185,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

About Yelp

Yelp Inc operates an online platform that helps consumers discover and evaluate local businesses. Through its website and mobile applications, Yelp provides business listings, user-generated reviews, ratings, photos and other information across categories such as restaurants, home services, beauty and fitness, automotive, health and professional services.

The company generates revenue primarily by providing businesses with advertising and marketing solutions designed to increase their visibility and connect them with potential customers.