Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Takes Position in Yelp Inc. $YELP

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 110,160 shares of the local business review company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,348,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.18% of Yelp as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of YELP. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yelp during the 3rd quarter worth $2,207,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in Yelp by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 925,898 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $28,888,000 after buying an additional 241,963 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments purchased a new position in Yelp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,185,000. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 150.0% during the third quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 105,000 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $3,276,000 after acquiring an additional 63,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 44,353 shares during the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yelp Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE YELP opened at $24.36 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $24.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.51. Yelp Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.60 and a 52-week high of $41.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.83, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.56.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The local business review company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $359.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $358.70 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 19.96% and a net margin of 9.94%.The business’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.62 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In other news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 7,500 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $187,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 216,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,420,000. The trade was a 3.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.78, for a total transaction of $26,136.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 253,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,513,258.52. This trade represents a 0.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 238,764 shares of company stock worth $6,481,945 in the last ninety days. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Yelp from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Yelp from $30.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Yelp from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Yelp from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $28.50.

Yelp 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.