Analysts Set Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) PT at $40.67

Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.71.

YELP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Craig Hallum dropped their target price on Yelp from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Raymond James started coverage on Yelp in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Yelp in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Yelp from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 10th.

Insider Activity at Yelp

In other Yelp news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 4,941 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.53, for a total transaction of $180,494.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 295,842 shares in the company, valued at $10,807,108.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Carmen Orr sold 14,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $569,392.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 110,011 shares in the company, valued at $4,180,418. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 4,941 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.53, for a total value of $180,494.73. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 295,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,807,108.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,068 shares of company stock valued at $1,997,590. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Yelp by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,994,129 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $94,402,000 after buying an additional 13,790 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Yelp by 65.8% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,215,355 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $57,535,000 after acquiring an additional 482,242 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Yelp by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,019,944 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $48,284,000 after acquiring an additional 12,511 shares during the last quarter. Goodnow Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yelp by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Goodnow Investment Group LLC now owns 641,660 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $30,376,000 after purchasing an additional 7,940 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 10.6% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 512,586 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $20,196,000 after purchasing an additional 49,081 shares during the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yelp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YELP opened at $37.31 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $36.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.45. Yelp has a 1-year low of $34.76 and a 1-year high of $48.99. The company has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of 23.76 and a beta of 1.33.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The local business review company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $332.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $333.66 million. Yelp had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 15.69%. Analysts anticipate that Yelp will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Yelp

Yelp Inc operates a platform that connects consumers with local businesses in the United States and internationally. The company's platform covers various categories, including restaurants, shopping, beauty and fitness, health, and other categories, as well as home, local, auto, professional, pets, events, real estate, and financial services.