DGS Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Yelp Inc. $YELP

DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 160.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,515 shares of the local business review company’s stock after buying an additional 18,809 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Yelp were worth $755,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YELP. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Yelp by 0.7% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 58,298 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $1,998,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Yelp by 6.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Yelp by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 19,871 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Yelp by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Yelp by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,302 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yelp Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE YELP opened at $26.88 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a fifty day moving average of $24.23 and a 200 day moving average of $25.52. Yelp Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.60 and a 1 year high of $35.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The local business review company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $361.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.47 million. Yelp had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 20.19%. The firm’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Yelp Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on YELP shares. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 price target on shares of Yelp in a report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Yelp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Evercore set a $30.00 target price on Yelp in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Yelp in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $27.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total value of $199,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 209,300 shares in the company, valued at $5,567,380. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Christine Barone sold 15,507 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.95, for a total value of $355,885.65. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $365,547.60. This trade represents a 49.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 25,007 shares of company stock valued at $601,981. Insiders own 8.30% 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.