StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Yelp (NYSE:YELP)

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Yelp (NYSE:YELP – Get Rating) in a research note published on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the local business review company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on YELP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Yelp from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Yelp from $31.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, February 13th. TheStreet downgraded Yelp from a b- rating to a c rating in a research report on Thursday, December 8th. Credit Suisse Group boosted their target price on Yelp from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Yelp from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Yelp currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $36.00.

Yelp Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of YELP opened at $29.33 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $30.23 and its 200 day moving average is $31.43. The company has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of 57.51 and a beta of 1.45. Yelp has a 12-month low of $25.30 and a 12-month high of $39.26.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 9th. The local business review company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $309.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.34 million. Yelp had a net margin of 3.05% and a return on equity of 5.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Yelp will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.77, for a total transaction of $154,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 265,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,830,415.81. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction of $56,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 175,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,907,980. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.77, for a total value of $154,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 265,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,830,415.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 390,605 shares of company stock worth $11,371,956. 7.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yelp in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Yelp in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Yelp by 127.6% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 867 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the period. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Yelp in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yelp by 94.6% in the fourth quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,584 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the period. 93.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yelp Company Profile

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Yelp, Inc engages in the business of operating a community-driven platform that connects people with great local businesses. The company was founded by Jeremy Stoppelman and Russell Simmons in July 2004 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.