Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Shares Sold by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Yousif Capital Management LLC cut its position in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,227 shares of the local business review company’s stock after selling 812 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Yelp were worth $897,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yelp by 375.2% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,331,835 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $51,542,000 after buying an additional 1,051,588 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Yelp by 163.4% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 853,867 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $33,045,000 after purchasing an additional 529,667 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Yelp by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,845,575 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $71,424,000 after purchasing an additional 255,775 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Yelp by 70.7% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 601,632 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $23,283,000 after purchasing an additional 249,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Yelp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,455,000. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Yelp from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Yelp from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.00.

Yelp Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YELP opened at $34.65 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.02. Yelp Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.29 and a 1-year high of $41.72. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $36.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.32.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The local business review company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $358.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $353.48 million. Yelp had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 19.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.20 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In other news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.34, for a total value of $36,340.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 223,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,122,426.08. This represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.31, for a total value of $343,100.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 239,112 shares in the company, valued at $8,203,932.72. The trade was a 4.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 58,345 shares of company stock valued at $2,149,176 in the last three months. 8.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.