Analysts Set Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Target Price at $28.50

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) has received an average rating of “Reduce” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $28.50.

YELP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group set a $28.00 price objective on Yelp in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Yelp from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Yelp from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Yelp in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th.

Yelp Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Yelp stock opened at $24.18 on Friday. Yelp has a twelve month low of $19.60 and a twelve month high of $41.22. The company’s 50 day moving average is $25.77 and its 200 day moving average is $29.18. The company has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.56.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The local business review company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $359.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $358.70 million. Yelp had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 19.96%. The firm’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.62 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Yelp will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In related news, CEO Jeremy Stoppelman sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.26, for a total value of $817,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 756,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,621,045.08. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Carmen Amara sold 1,500 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction on Friday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.69, for a total value of $46,035.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 74,378 shares in the company, valued at $2,282,660.82. This trade represents a 1.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 236,264 shares of company stock worth $6,501,015 in the last 90 days. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in YELP. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,056 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake 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 during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Yelp by 6.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Yelp by 1.2% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 35,838 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 2.2% in the fourth 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 during the period. 90.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.