Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Trading Down 8.3% – Time to Sell?

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) traded down 8.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $25.00 and last traded at $26.13. 533,794 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 1,295,525 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YELP has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research downgraded Yelp from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group set a $28.00 price target on Yelp in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Yelp from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Yelp from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $28.88.

Yelp Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.59. The company has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.53.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its earnings results 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. Yelp had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 19.96%. The firm had revenue of $361.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Yelp

In related news, Director Dan Jedda sold 1,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.02, for a total value of $30,773.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 17,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $359,442. This represents a 7.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 227,959 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,698,975. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 28,864 shares of company stock worth $723,573 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Yelp by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 58,298 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $1,998,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Yelp by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,204 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC increased its stake in Yelp by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 35,838 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $1,118,000 after buying an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in Yelp by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 19,871 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $604,000 after buying an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. 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.