Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Makes New $43,000 Investment in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 900 shares of the local business review company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yelp by 18.2% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 384,566 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 2,219.2% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 168,559 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $7,010,000 after purchasing an additional 161,291 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Yelp in the third quarter worth approximately $976,000. EAM Investors LLC bought a new position in shares of Yelp in the third quarter worth approximately $1,786,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 186.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 463,505 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $21,942,000 after purchasing an additional 301,715 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In other news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 2,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were 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 approximately $10,516,994.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 2,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were 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 approximately $10,516,994.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 312,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,134,452.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 7.20% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:YELP opened at $40.82 on Monday. Yelp Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.53 and a 52 week high of $48.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.24 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.50.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on YELP. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Yelp in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yelp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.75.

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.