Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Receives $27.88 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) has earned an average rating of “Reduce” from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.5714.

YELP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 price objective on Yelp in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Yelp in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Evercore set a $30.00 target price on Yelp in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 15th.

Yelp Stock Performance

Shares of Yelp stock opened at $23.61 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $24.94 and its 200 day moving average is $24.74. Yelp has a 1 year low of $19.60 and a 1 year high of $34.49.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $375.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $366.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Yelp will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In other news, Director Christine Barone sold 15,507 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.95, for a total value of $355,885.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $365,547.60. This represents a 49.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 17,507 shares of company stock worth $402,481 in the last quarter. Insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Baron Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Yelp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 16.7% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 467,195 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $11,558,000 after purchasing an additional 66,833 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 192.8% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 367,028 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $9,080,000 after purchasing an additional 241,656 shares during the period. Essential Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 225.9% during the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 2,796 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 73.8% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 562,739 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $13,922,000 after purchasing an additional 238,993 shares during the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.