Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Receives $36.33 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) has been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $36.33.

Separately, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Yelp from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 21,989 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total value of $785,007.30. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 153,159 shares in the company, valued at $5,467,776.30. This represents a 12.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.31, for a total transaction of $343,100.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 239,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,203,932.72. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,727 shares of company stock worth $2,029,667 over the last 90 days. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yelp

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Yelp by 82.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 637 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth grew its holdings in shares of Yelp by 1,963.6% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 908 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Yelp by 76.5% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,094 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Yelp by 307.4% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,096 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new position in Yelp during the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Price Performance

YELP opened at $33.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.22, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.08. Yelp has a fifty-two week low of $32.56 and a fifty-two week high of $41.72. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $35.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.88.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The local business review company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.09. Yelp had a return on equity of 18.07% and a net margin of 9.41%. The firm had revenue of $361.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $350.73 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Yelp will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

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.