Robert W. Baird Lowers Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Price Target to $37.00

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) had its price target reduced by investment analysts at Robert W. Baird from $39.00 to $37.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the local business review company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective points to a potential upside of 2.98% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Yelp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Yelp in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Yelp from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yelp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.00.

Yelp Stock Performance

YELP stock opened at $35.93 on Friday. Yelp has a 52 week low of $32.56 and a 52 week high of $48.99. The company has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a PE ratio of 21.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.73.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The local business review company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.27. Yelp had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The firm 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 business posted $0.21 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Yelp will post 1.69 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.02, for a total value of $238,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 255,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,083.16. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.02, for a total transaction of $238,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 255,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,083.16. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,776 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $377,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 145,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,080,985. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Yelp by 262.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 664 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yelp during the second quarter worth $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 115.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 976 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 54.5% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,148 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Yelp by 98.5% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

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.