LSV Asset Management Raises Holdings in Yelp Inc. $YELP

LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,682,238 shares of the local business review company’s stock after acquiring an additional 279,300 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management owned approximately 4.36% of Yelp worth $81,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Yelp by 0.7% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 58,298 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $1,998,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Yelp by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,204 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the period. Pinnacle Holdings LLC grew its position in Yelp by 1.2% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 35,838 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $1,118,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in Yelp by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 19,871 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in 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 worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on YELP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Yelp in a research report on Monday, May 11th. 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, February 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Yelp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $27.88.

Yelp Trading Up 2.8%

YELP opened at $22.44 on Friday. Yelp Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.60 and a 52 week high of $39.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.86. The firm has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The local business review company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.04. Yelp had a return on equity of 20.19% and a net margin of 9.47%.The business had revenue of $361.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.47 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.72, for a total value of $29,664.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 267,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,881.20. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total value of $199,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 209,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,567,380. The trade was a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,364 shares of company stock worth $734,748. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Yelp 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.