Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Receives $40.00 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $40.00.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Yelp from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 10th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Yelp in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Craig Hallum dropped their price objective on Yelp from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Yelp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In related news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 4,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.53, for a total value of $180,494.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 295,842 shares in the company, valued at $10,807,108.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 295,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,807,108.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total transaction of $253,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 288,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,467,634.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 61,068 shares of company stock valued at $2,230,340. 7.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yelp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in Yelp by 159.4% during the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 169,786 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $6,274,000 after acquiring an additional 104,330 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,693,819 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $62,587,000 after purchasing an additional 33,046 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Yelp in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. BOKF NA acquired a new stake in shares of Yelp during the 2nd quarter worth about $316,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Yelp by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 106,972 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $3,953,000 after purchasing an additional 6,191 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:YELP opened at $33.47 on Wednesday. Yelp has a 1 year low of $32.56 and a 1 year high of $48.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 21.32 and a beta of 1.33.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The local business review company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.31. Yelp had a return on equity of 15.69% and a net margin of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $357.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.98 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Yelp will post 1.48 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.