Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) have been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $32.1667.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on YELP shares. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Yelp from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Yelp in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $33.00 price target on shares of Yelp in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Yelp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Yelp from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th.

Yelp Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE:YELP opened at $30.37 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.56. Yelp has a twelve month low of $27.29 and a twelve month high of $41.72. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $30.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.13.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The local business review company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $376.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $368.39 million. Yelp had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 20.33%. Yelp’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Yelp will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.98, for a total value of $39,576.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 201,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,638,874. This represents a 0.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Christine Barone sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $450,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 31,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $943,050. The trade was a 32.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,906 shares of company stock valued at $1,688,665. Insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bfsg LLC raised its stake in shares of Yelp by 110.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 839 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Yelp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Yelp by 100.0% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management lifted 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 worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Yelp during the third quarter worth $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Company Profile

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.