Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Buys 63,000 Shares of Yelp Inc. $YELP

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,000 shares of the local business review company’s stock after purchasing an additional 63,000 shares during the quarter. Yelp accounts for about 0.7% of Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of Yelp worth $3,276,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of YELP. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Yelp by 268.1% during the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 753,173 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $25,811,000 after acquiring an additional 548,586 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Yelp by 17.7% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 295,562 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $10,148,000 after purchasing an additional 44,353 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in Yelp by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,359,112 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $80,827,000 after purchasing an additional 95,933 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Yelp by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 683,935 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $23,438,000 after buying an additional 128,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in Yelp by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 417,250 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $13,018,000 after buying an additional 63,848 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In related news, insider Carmen Amara sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.69, for a total transaction of $46,035.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 74,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,282,660.82. The trade was a 1.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christine Barone sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $450,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 31,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $943,050. This represents a 32.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 134,906 shares of company stock worth $3,907,440. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on YELP shares. UBS Group set a $28.00 target price on Yelp in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $33.00 price objective on Yelp in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Yelp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Yelp from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Yelp from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $31.29.

Yelp Stock Down 3.7%

NYSE YELP opened at $27.27 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 12.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.55. Yelp Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.96 and a 52 week high of $41.72. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.27.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The local business review company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $376.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $368.39 million. Yelp had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 20.33%. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Yelp Company Profile

Yelp is a digital platform that connects consumers with local businesses through user-generated reviews, ratings and multimedia content. The company’s flagship offerings include the Yelp website and mobile applications for iOS and Android, where users can search for and discover restaurants, shops, service providers and other points of interest. In addition to crowd-sourced reviews and photographs, Yelp provides business profile pages featuring hours, contact information, menus and direct messaging capabilities.

Yelp generates revenue primarily through advertising services sold to small and medium-sized enterprises.