Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $23.90 and last traded at $23.92, with a volume of 147128 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $24.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on YELP shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Yelp from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group set a $28.00 price target on shares of Yelp in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Yelp from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Yelp from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Yelp in a research note on Friday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.29.

Yelp Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $29.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.78. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of 10.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.55.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released 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 return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 10.23%.The firm had revenue of $376.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $368.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. The company’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 year.

Insider Activity at Yelp

In other Yelp news, CEO Jeremy Stoppelman sold 30,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.39, for a total transaction of $821,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 756,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,719,384.62. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.41, for a total transaction of $410,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 127,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,881,137.07. This trade represents a 9.57% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 261,106 shares of company stock valued at $7,260,184. 7.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Yelp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Bfsg LLC increased its holdings in Yelp by 110.3% in the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 839 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Yelp by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Yelp by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,159 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the period. Finally, MAI Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 1,102.0% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,202 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

About Yelp

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.