Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Insider Craig Saldanha Sells 1,200 Shares of Stock

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.78, for a total transaction of $26,136.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 253,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,513,258.52. This represents a 0.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Craig Saldanha also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, February 2nd, Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of Yelp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.40, for a total transaction of $32,880.00.
• On Friday, January 2nd, Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of Yelp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total transaction of $36,516.00.

Yelp Price Performance

NYSE:YELP opened at $23.22 on Wednesday. Yelp Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.60 and a 12 month high of $41.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a PE ratio of 10.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $26.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.43.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The local business review company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.14. Yelp had a return on equity of 19.96% and a net margin of 9.94%.The company had revenue of $359.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $358.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. Yelp’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on YELP. Robert W. Baird set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Yelp in a report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Yelp from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Yelp from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $28.50.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bfsg LLC grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 110.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 839 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Yelp in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Yelp by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Yelp by 70.4% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,159 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yelp by 181.3% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,297 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.