Yelp (NYSE:YELP) CTO Sells $89,598.60 in Stock

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) CTO Alexander Coleman Levy sold 3,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.40, for a total value of $89,598.60. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 54,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,266,501.60. This represents a 6.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Yelp Stock Performance

Shares of Yelp stock opened at $22.71 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $25.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.52. Yelp Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.60 and a 52 week high of $34.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.46.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The local business review company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $375.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $366.89 million. Yelp had a net margin of 8.59% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The business’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yelp

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted 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 valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in Yelp by 71.3% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,158 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Yelp by 70.4% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,159 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Yelp by 181.3% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,297 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Yelp in the 1st quarter worth $56,000. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 15th. Zacks Research raised Yelp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Yelp in a report on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 price objective on Yelp in a report on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $27.57.

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.