Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Director Sells $30,773.28 in Stock

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Director Dan Jedda sold 1,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.02, for a total value of $30,773.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $359,442. This represents a 7.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Yelp Stock Performance

YELP stock opened at $22.23 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.57. Yelp Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.60 and a fifty-two week high of $41.22. The company has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.55.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The local business review company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $359.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $358.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YELP has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Yelp from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Yelp from $30.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Evercore cut their price target on Yelp from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Yelp from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $28.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yelp

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Yelp in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bfsg LLC lifted its holdings in Yelp by 110.3% during the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 839 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in Yelp by 100.0% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Yelp by 70.4% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,159 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the period. Finally, MAI Capital Management increased its position in shares of Yelp by 1,102.0% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,202 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

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.