Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $34.00.

A number of research firms have commented on YELP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Yelp from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Yelp from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In related news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.80, for a total transaction of $348,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 242,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,453,476.80. This trade represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Carmen Amara sold 1,500 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total value of $49,740.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 107,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,554,984.12. This represents a 1.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 57,727 shares of company stock worth $2,025,717 over the last three months. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Yelp by 82.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 637 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth grew its holdings in Yelp by 1,963.6% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 908 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Yelp by 76.5% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,094 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Yelp by 307.4% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,096 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the period. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in Yelp in the first quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yelp Stock Performance

Yelp stock opened at $38.80 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $35.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.00. Yelp has a one year low of $32.29 and a one year high of $41.72. The stock has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.99.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The local business review company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.05. Yelp had a return on equity of 18.07% and a net margin of 9.41%. The company had revenue of $358.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $353.48 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Yelp will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yelp Company Profile

Yelp Inc operates a platform that connects consumers with local businesses in the United States and internationally. The company's platform covers various categories, including restaurants, shopping, beauty and fitness, health, and other categories, as well as home, local, auto, professional, pets, events, real estate, and financial services.