Vinva Investment Management Ltd Boosts Holdings in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 31.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,631 shares of the local business review company’s stock after buying an additional 4,421 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Yelp were worth $721,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in shares of Yelp in the fourth quarter worth about $234,000. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of Yelp by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 53,450 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $2,069,000 after buying an additional 6,035 shares in the last quarter. Globeflex Capital L P lifted its stake in shares of Yelp by 558.9% in the fourth quarter. Globeflex Capital L P now owns 123,880 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $4,794,000 after buying an additional 105,078 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yelp by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,967 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $657,000 after buying an additional 5,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aurora Investment Counsel purchased a new position in shares of Yelp in the fourth quarter worth about $2,511,000. 90.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yelp Trading Up 0.8 %

Yelp stock opened at $35.73 on Friday. Yelp Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.56 and a 12-month high of $41.72. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.61, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $37.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.66.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The local business review company reported $0.62 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $361.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $350.73 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In other news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 21,989 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total value of $785,007.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 153,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,467,776.30. This trade represents a 12.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Carmen Amara sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total transaction of $49,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 107,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,554,984.12. The trade was a 1.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 57,727 shares of company stock worth $2,083,317 over the last three months. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Morgan Stanley raised 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.17.

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.