Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Yelp (NYSE:YELP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on YELP. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Yelp from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Yelp from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Yelp from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $33.00 price target on Yelp in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $32.20.

Yelp Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of YELP opened at $29.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.01, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.91 and a 200-day moving average of $32.79. Yelp has a 52 week low of $27.29 and a 52 week high of $41.72.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The local business review company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.14. Yelp had a return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 10.23%.The business 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 company posted $0.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Yelp will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.58, for a total value of $335,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 160,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,379,381.68. This represents a 5.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Carmen Amara sold 1,500 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.37, for a total value of $47,055.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 84,066 shares in the company, valued at $2,637,150.42. The trade was a 1.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 52,906 shares of company stock valued at $1,637,585. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yelp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of YELP. Bfsg LLC grew its position in Yelp by 110.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 839 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Yelp in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management increased its stake 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 valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Yelp in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Yelp

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