Yelp Inc. $YELP Shares Acquired by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 3,716.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,232 shares of the local business review company’s stock after buying an additional 43,073 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Yelp were worth $1,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YELP. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Yelp by 0.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 100.0% during the third 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. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 5.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Yelp by 71.3% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,158 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Yelp

In related news, Director Christine Barone sold 15,507 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.95, for a total value of $355,885.65. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,928 shares in the company, valued at $365,547.60. This represents a 49.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,507 shares of company stock valued at $402,481. Insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Stock Performance

Shares of YELP stock opened at $25.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.47, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. Yelp Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.60 and a 1 year high of $35.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $24.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.10.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Yelp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Evercore set a $30.00 price objective on Yelp in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Yelp in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $27.88.

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.