Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Hits New 52-Week Low After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday after Zacks Research downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating. The company traded as low as $19.61 and last traded at $20.1750, with a volume of 259654 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.98.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on YELP. UBS Group set a $28.00 price target on shares of Yelp in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird set a $25.00 price target on shares of Yelp in a research report on Friday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Yelp from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Yelp from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $28.50.

Insider Activity at Yelp

In related news, CEO Jeremy Stoppelman sold 6,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.20, for a total value of $150,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 964,827 shares in the company, valued at $23,348,813.40. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.40, for a total transaction of $32,880.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 190,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,230,084.60. This trade represents a 0.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 261,106 shares of company stock valued at $7,260,184. Corporate insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in YELP. Bfsg LLC grew its position in Yelp by 110.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 839 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Yelp in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Yelp by 181.3% during the fourth 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 institutional investors.

Yelp Stock Down 0.9%

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.12. The firm has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of 9.55, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.55.

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

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.