Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $1.62 Million Position in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 34,300 shares of the local business review company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,624,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,496,166 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $103,789,000 after acquiring an additional 384,566 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 2,219.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 168,559 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $7,010,000 after acquiring an additional 161,291 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Yelp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $976,000. EAM Investors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yelp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,786,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 186.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 463,505 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $21,942,000 after acquiring an additional 301,715 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Price Performance

Shares of Yelp stock opened at $39.29 on Friday. Yelp Inc. has a one year low of $26.53 and a one year high of $48.99. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.10 and a beta of 1.49.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The local business review company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.37. Yelp had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 7.42%. The firm had revenue of $342.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $341.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YELP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James assumed coverage on Yelp in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 24th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In other Yelp news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 2,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.63, for a total value of $111,732.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 258,848 shares in the company, valued at $10,516,994.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total transaction of $232,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 312,502 shares in the company, valued at $12,134,452.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.63, for a total value of $111,732.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 258,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,516,994.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,750 shares of company stock worth $613,213. 7.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Yelp Company Profile

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.