Yelp (NYSE:YELP) CFO David Schwarzbach Sells 8,809 Shares

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) CFO David Schwarzbach sold 8,809 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.19, for a total transaction of $204,280.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 180,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,185,006.54. The trade was a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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.

Yelp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YELP opened at $23.86 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.60 and a fifty-two week high of $34.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.54. The company has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.46.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The local business review company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.21. Yelp had a net margin of 8.59% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The firm had revenue of $375.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $366.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. Yelp’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Yelp Inc. will post 1.84 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YELP. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Yelp by 70.4% in the fourth 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 period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Yelp by 71.3% in the fourth 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 period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Yelp during the 1st quarter valued at about $56,000. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YELP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Yelp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 price target on shares of Yelp in a report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Yelp in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $27.57.

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.