Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) COO Joseph R. Nachman Sells 3,452 Shares

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP – Get Rating) COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 3,452 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.80, for a total value of $102,869.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 261,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,795,709.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Yelp Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of YELP traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $30.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 625,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 561,700. The company’s 50-day moving average is $28.44 and its 200-day moving average is $32.04. Yelp Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.30 and a 52-week high of $39.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.60 and a beta of 1.40.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 3rd. The local business review company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.01. Yelp had a return on equity of 5.44% and a net margin of 3.40%. The company had revenue of $308.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.12 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 0.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on YELP. StockNews.com started coverage on Yelp in a report on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Yelp from $38.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 19th. Credit Suisse Group decreased their price objective on shares of Yelp from $49.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 4th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Yelp from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Yelp from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.38.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yelp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Yelp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Yelp by 94.6% during the fourth quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,584 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Yelp by 497.3% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,616 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 2,178 shares in the last quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new position in Yelp in the fourth quarter worth $132,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Yelp by 16.2% during the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 4,033 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

About Yelp

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Yelp, Inc operates a platform that connects consumers with local businesses in the United States and internationally. The company’s platform covers various local business 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.