AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 5,010 Shares of Yelp Inc. $YELP

AQR Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 148,754 shares of the local business review company’s stock after selling 5,010 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.23% of Yelp worth $5,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in YELP. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Yelp by 122.8% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,902,318 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $70,443,000 after buying an additional 1,048,451 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Yelp in the first quarter valued at $13,811,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Yelp by 1,620.5% in the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 204,587 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $7,576,000 after buying an additional 192,696 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Yelp by 157.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 252,564 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $9,352,000 after buying an additional 154,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Yelp in the first quarter valued at $5,134,000. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Yelp

In related news, insider Carmen Amara sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.33, for a total transaction of $48,495.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 85,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,766,348.78. This trade represents a 1.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.17, for a total transaction of $37,404.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 203,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,349,329. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,494 shares of company stock worth $1,305,389. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Yelp Price Performance

Shares of YELP stock opened at $30.94 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $32.91 and a 200-day moving average of $34.82. The company has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.03. Yelp Inc. has a one year low of $29.96 and a one year high of $41.72.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The local business review company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $370.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.71 million. Yelp had a net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 20.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. Yelp has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on YELP. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Yelp from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yelp has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

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.