Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Position in Yelp Inc. $YELP

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 150.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 105,000 shares of the local business review company’s stock after acquiring an additional 63,000 shares during the period. Yelp makes up approximately 0.7% of Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Yelp were worth $3,276,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bfsg LLC grew its position in shares of Yelp by 110.3% during the 3rd 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. bought a new stake in Yelp during the second quarter valued at $28,000. MAI Capital Management grew its position in Yelp by 1,102.0% during the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,202 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Yelp in the 1st quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yelp by 14.5% in 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. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on YELP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $33.00 price objective on Yelp in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Yelp from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Yelp from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 10th. UBS Group set a $28.00 target price on shares of Yelp in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Yelp in a research note on Friday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $31.29.

Yelp Stock Performance

Shares of Yelp stock opened at $27.27 on Wednesday. Yelp Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.96 and a 52-week high of $41.72. The company has a fifty day moving average of $29.68 and a 200-day moving average of $31.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.55.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The local business review company reported $0.61 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 analysts’ expectations of $368.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yelp news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total transaction of $36,516.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 192,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,844,963.97. This represents a 0.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeremy Stoppelman sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.74, for a total transaction of $862,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 756,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,740,602.92. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 134,906 shares of company stock worth $3,907,440 in the last 90 days. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.