Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $32.1667.

Several research analysts have issued reports on YELP shares. Zacks Research downgraded Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Yelp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Yelp from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $33.00 price objective on Yelp in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Yelp from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In related news, Director Christine Barone sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $450,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 31,435 shares in the company, valued at $943,050. This represents a 32.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.62, for a total transaction of $34,344.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 193,279 shares in the company, valued at $5,531,644.98. This represents a 0.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 56,406 shares of company stock valued at $1,735,720. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in YELP. Bfsg LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Yelp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in Yelp by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 1,102.0% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,202 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Yelp in the third quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yelp Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:YELP opened at $31.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.56. Yelp has a 12 month low of $27.29 and a 12 month high of $41.72. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $30.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.28.

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

About Yelp

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.