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

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

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Yelp from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Yelp from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Yelp

Yelp Price Performance

YELP opened at $34.39 on Friday. Yelp has a one year low of $32.29 and a one year high of $41.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.26.

Yelp (NYSE:YELPGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The local business review company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.05. Yelp had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 19.42%. The business had revenue of $358.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.48 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.20 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Yelp will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.34, for a total transaction of $36,340.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 223,512 shares in the company, valued at $8,122,426.08. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Sam Eaton sold 12,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.18, for a total transaction of $492,674.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 145,064 shares in the company, valued at $5,538,543.52. This represents a 8.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 58,345 shares of company stock valued at $2,149,176. Corporate insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yelp

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Yelp by 82.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 637 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Yelp by 307.4% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,096 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in Yelp during the 1st quarter worth $52,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Yelp during the 1st quarter worth $56,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yelp during the 4th quarter worth $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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Analyst Recommendations for Yelp (NYSE:YELP)

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