Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 15.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,440 shares of the local business review company’s stock after selling 623 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yelp were worth $127,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YELP. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,051,588 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Yelp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,455,000. 90.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In related news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 12,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.18, for a total value of $492,674.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 145,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,538,543.52. This trade represents a 8.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.34, for a total transaction of $34,340.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 213,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,339,144.80. This trade represents a 0.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 58,345 shares of company stock worth $2,150,876. Company insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on YELP shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Yelp from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Yelp from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.00.

Yelp Stock Performance

Shares of YELP opened at $34.65 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $36.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.98. Yelp Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.29 and a 52 week high of $41.72.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The local business review company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.05. The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current 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 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.