Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $39.00.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Yelp from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Craig Hallum dropped their price objective on Yelp from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Yelp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Yelp in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Carmen Orr sold 14,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 110,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,180,418. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related 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 transaction of $569,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 110,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,180,418. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Sam Eaton sold 26,718 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.62, for a total value of $978,413.16. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 167,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,147,069.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 61,068 shares of company stock worth $2,230,340. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hancock Whitney Corp bought a new position in Yelp during the 2nd quarter worth $247,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Yelp by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 221,288 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $8,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,889 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Yelp by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,695,536 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $99,600,000 after acquiring an additional 111,936 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in Yelp by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 6,879 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 804 shares during the period. Finally, Tredje AP fonden acquired a new position in Yelp during the 2nd quarter worth $705,000. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yelp Stock Performance

Yelp stock opened at $33.77 on Wednesday. Yelp has a one year low of $32.56 and a one year high of $48.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $36.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 21.51 and a beta of 1.33.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The local business review company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.27. Yelp had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 10.01%. The company had revenue of $357.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.98 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.21 EPS. Yelp’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Yelp will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yelp Company Profile

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.