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

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) has received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $27.8750.

YELP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Yelp in a report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Yelp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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, February 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.72, for a total transaction of $29,664.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 267,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,881.20. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $250,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 227,959 shares in the company, valued at $5,698,975. This represents a 4.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 27,900 shares of company stock worth $703,975 in the last 90 days. 8.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Yelp by 0.7% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 58,298 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $1,998,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Yelp by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,204 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the period. Pinnacle Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Yelp by 1.2% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 35,838 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Yelp by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 19,871 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $604,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Stock Down 0.6%

YELP stock opened at $23.31 on Friday. Yelp has a 12-month low of $19.60 and a 12-month high of $39.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50 day moving average of $25.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.59.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The local business review company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $361.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.47 million. Yelp had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 20.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Yelp will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.