Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Yelp in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Yelp in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Evercore ISI set a $45.00 target price on Yelp and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Zacks Research downgraded Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Yelp from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $34.60.

Yelp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YELP opened at $28.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $31.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.99. Yelp has a 1-year low of $28.70 and a 1-year high of $41.72.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The local business review company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.14. Yelp had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 10.28%.The business had revenue of $376.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $368.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Yelp has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Yelp will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In related news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total transaction of $314,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 180,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,663,560.28. This represents a 5.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Carmen Amara sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.37, for a total transaction of $47,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 84,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,637,150.42. The trade was a 1.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,100 shares of company stock worth $1,254,036. 8.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yelp

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,056 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Yelp by 0.7% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 58,298 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $1,998,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC lifted its holdings in Yelp by 110.3% in the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 839 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the period. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 14,436 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 6,986 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.