Brokerages Set Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) PT at $31.29

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eight analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $28.50.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on YELP. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Yelp from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Yelp from $30.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Yelp from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $25.00 target price on Yelp in a research report on Friday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.40, for a total transaction of $32,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 190,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,230,084.60. This represents a 0.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeremy Stoppelman sold 6,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.20, for a total value of $150,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 964,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,348,813.40. This represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 261,106 shares of company stock valued at $7,260,184. 7.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yelp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Yelp by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,056 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 0.7% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 58,298 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $1,998,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Yelp by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,204 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the period. Pinnacle Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Yelp by 1.2% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 35,838 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in Yelp by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 19,871 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yelp Stock Performance

NYSE:YELP opened at $20.65 on Wednesday. Yelp has a 1 year low of $19.61 and a 1 year high of $41.22. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.18.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The local business review company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $359.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $358.70 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 19.96% and a net margin of 9.94%.The firm’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Yelp will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

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.