Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Short Interest Update

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,030,000 shares, a drop of 14.8% from the February 13th total of 4,730,000 shares. Currently, 6.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 718,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.6 days.

Insider Activity at Yelp

In related news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.99, for a total value of $37,990.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 183,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,973,368.42. This trade represents a 0.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Carmen Amara sold 1,500 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total transaction of $49,740.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 107,207 shares in the company, valued at $3,554,984.12. This trade represents a 1.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,083,317 over the last three months. 7.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of YELP. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 171,140 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $6,004,000 after buying an additional 30,797 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in Yelp by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 47,415 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $1,663,000 after purchasing an additional 8,727 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Yelp in the 3rd quarter worth about $267,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Yelp in the 3rd quarter worth about $745,000. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Yelp in the 3rd quarter worth about $336,000. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Yelp from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.17.

Yelp Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of YELP stock traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $35.25. 161,072 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 675,832. Yelp has a 12 month low of $32.56 and a 12 month high of $41.72. The company has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.68.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The local business review company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.09. Yelp had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 18.07%. The firm had revenue of $361.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $350.73 million. Equities analysts predict that Yelp will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current 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.