Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) has earned an average rating of “Reduce” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.8750.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of 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 target price on shares of Yelp in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Yelp in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 15th.

Yelp Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of YELP stock traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $25.84. 683,856 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,293,340. Yelp has a 52-week low of $19.60 and a 52-week high of $35.39. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $24.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.41.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The local business review company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.04. Yelp had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 20.19%. The firm had revenue of $361.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $353.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Yelp will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Christine Barone sold 15,507 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.95, for a total transaction of $355,885.65. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $365,547.60. The trade was a 49.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total transaction of $199,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 209,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,567,380. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 25,007 shares of company stock worth $601,981 in the last quarter. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yelp

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headwater Capital Co Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Yelp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,558,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Yelp in the fourth quarter worth $3,348,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 858.9% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 44,476 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $1,352,000 after purchasing an additional 39,838 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Yelp by 56.7% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 653,818 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $19,870,000 after purchasing an additional 236,568 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its holdings in Yelp by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 251,569 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $7,633,000 after purchasing an additional 39,585 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.