Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.14 EPS

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The local business review company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.14, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $359.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $358.70 million. Yelp had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 20.33%.

Yelp Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:YELP traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $22.72. The company had a trading volume of 2,560,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,197,292. The stock has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $28.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.58. Yelp has a 52-week low of $22.19 and a 52-week high of $41.22.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YELP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Yelp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. UBS Group set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Yelp in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Yelp from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Yelp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Yelp from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yelp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.29.

Insider Activity

In other Yelp news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.40, for a total value of $32,880.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 190,879 shares in the company, valued at $5,230,084.60. The trade was a 0.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeremy Stoppelman sold 6,200 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.20, for a total transaction of $150,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 964,827 shares in the company, valued at $23,348,813.40. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 261,106 shares of company stock worth $7,260,184. Insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 399.0% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 725,214 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $24,853,000 after acquiring an additional 579,894 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Yelp by 1,144.9% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 351,006 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $12,029,000 after purchasing an additional 322,810 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc lifted its stake in Yelp by 48.5% in the 2nd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 741,747 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $25,420,000 after purchasing an additional 242,213 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Yelp by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,226,666 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $67,666,000 after purchasing an additional 156,430 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Yelp by 157.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 252,564 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $9,352,000 after purchasing an additional 154,612 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.