Victory Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stake in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 51.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,085 shares of the local business review company’s stock after selling 25,563 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Yelp were worth $877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of YELP. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Yelp by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 221,270 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $8,056,000 after purchasing an additional 2,957 shares during the period. Creative Planning purchased a new position in shares of Yelp during the 2nd quarter worth $237,000. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Yelp by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,043,960 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $74,421,000 after acquiring an additional 35,663 shares during the period. Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Yelp in the 2nd quarter worth $406,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Yelp by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 36,100 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $1,314,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In other news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 2,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.28, for a total transaction of $119,020.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 230,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,962,406.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.28, for a total value of $119,020.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 230,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,962,406.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.72, for a total value of $244,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 279,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,370,327.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 78,718 shares of company stock worth $3,462,921 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 7.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YELP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp cut Yelp from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $34.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Yelp from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Yelp from $26.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. TheStreet upgraded Yelp from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Yelp from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.33.

Yelp Stock Performance

NYSE YELP opened at $42.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $42.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.42. Yelp Inc. has a one year low of $25.30 and a one year high of $47.59. The company has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.31 and a beta of 1.44.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The local business review company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $337.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $325.96 million. Yelp had a net margin of 3.38% and a return on equity of 6.46%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yelp Profile

Yelp Inc operates a platform that connects consumers with local businesses in the United States and internationally. The company's platform covers various local business 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.