Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Hold”

Zacks Research cut shares of Yelp (NYSE:YELP) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on YELP. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Yelp from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Yelp from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Yelp from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Yelp in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $25.00 target price on Yelp in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $28.50.

Yelp Stock Performance

NYSE:YELP opened at $21.66 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $28.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.12. The firm has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.63, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.55. Yelp has a one year low of $19.61 and a one year high of $41.22.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The local business review company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $359.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $358.70 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 19.96% and a net margin of 9.94%.The company’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.62 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Yelp will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Yelp

In related news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.40, for a total value of $32,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 190,879 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeremy Stoppelman sold 6,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.20, for a total transaction of $150,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 964,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,348,813.40. The trade was a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 261,106 shares of company stock valued at $7,260,184. Insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Yelp by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,302 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Yelp in the 4th quarter valued at $353,000. Vident Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yelp by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 142,943 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $4,344,000 after purchasing an additional 19,190 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yelp during the 4th quarter worth about $289,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Yelp by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 63,442 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $1,908,000 after buying an additional 2,758 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

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.