Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Receives $27.88 Average Price Target from Analysts

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eight research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.8750.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on YELP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 price objective on Yelp in a report on Friday, May 8th. Evercore set a $30.00 price objective on Yelp in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Yelp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th.

Yelp Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE YELP opened at $27.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Yelp has a 12 month low of $19.60 and a 12 month high of $35.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.26.

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

Insider Activity at Yelp

In other news, Director Christine Barone sold 15,507 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.95, for a total transaction of $355,885.65. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $365,547.60. The trade was a 49.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 17,507 shares of company stock worth $402,481 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Headwater Capital Co Ltd bought a new position in shares of Yelp during the fourth quarter valued at $4,558,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Yelp in the fourth quarter worth $3,348,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 858.9% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 44,476 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $1,352,000 after purchasing an additional 39,838 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 56.7% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 653,818 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $19,870,000 after purchasing an additional 236,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its holdings in Yelp by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 251,569 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $7,633,000 after purchasing an additional 39,585 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.