Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) have received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the six analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $34.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Yelp from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Yelp from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dan Jedda sold 2,794 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.68, for a total transaction of $99,689.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,564 shares in the company, valued at $662,363.52. This represents a 13.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Carmen Amara sold 6,886 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total transaction of $262,976.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 92,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,523,142.07. This trade represents a 6.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,345 shares of company stock worth $2,151,656 over the last quarter. 7.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yelp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Yelp during the second quarter worth about $28,000. MAI Capital Management increased its stake in Yelp by 1,102.0% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,202 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in Yelp during the first quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Yelp in the first quarter valued at $56,000. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yelp Stock Performance

Shares of YELP stock opened at $31.0050 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $34.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.63. Yelp has a 1 year low of $29.96 and a 1 year high of $41.72. The firm has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.97.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The local business review company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $370.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $365.71 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 10.28%.The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. Yelp has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, 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.