Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Yelp (NYSE:YELP) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on YELP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Yelp from $30.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. 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. Wall Street Zen cut Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird set a $25.00 price objective on Yelp in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Yelp from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $28.50.

Yelp Price Performance

Shares of Yelp stock opened at $21.49 on Tuesday. Yelp has a 1 year low of $19.61 and a 1 year high of $41.22. The stock has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $27.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.06.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The local business review company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.14. Yelp had a return on equity of 19.96% and a net margin of 9.94%.The business had revenue of $359.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $358.70 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.62 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Yelp will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeremy Stoppelman sold 6,200 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.20, for a total transaction of $150,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 964,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,348,813.40. The trade was a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.40, for a total transaction of $32,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 190,879 shares in the company, valued at $5,230,084.60. This represents a 0.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 261,106 shares of company stock worth $7,260,184. Corporate insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in YELP. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Yelp by 14.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Yelp by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 58,298 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $1,998,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,204 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the period. Pinnacle Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yelp by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 35,838 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Yelp by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 19,871 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

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.