Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Yelp from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Yelp in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Yelp in a research report on Monday, September 16th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Yelp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Yelp Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YELP traded up $1.63 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $37.56. The stock had a trading volume of 1,033,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 727,564. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $34.35 and its 200-day moving average is $35.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.33. Yelp has a 1 year low of $32.56 and a 1 year high of $48.99.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The local business review company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $357.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.98 million. Yelp had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 16.05%. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. Analysts forecast that Yelp will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yelp

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of YELP. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Yelp by 262.8% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 664 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Yelp during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in 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 last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in Yelp by 54.5% during 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 position in Yelp by 98.5% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. 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.