Yelp Inc. $YELP Shares Acquired by LSV Asset Management

LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,682,238 shares of the local business review company’s stock after purchasing an additional 279,300 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in Yelp were worth $81,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of YELP. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Yelp by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,159 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Yelp in the first quarter valued at $56,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Yelp in the third quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Yelp by 76.5% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,097 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yelp Stock Up 2.8%

YELP opened at $22.44 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. Yelp Inc. has a one year low of $19.60 and a one year high of $39.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.53.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Yelp had a return on equity of 20.19% and a net margin of 9.47%.The company had revenue of $361.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $353.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Yelp Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In other news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.72, for a total transaction of $29,664.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 267,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,881.20. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Dan Jedda sold 1,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.02, for a total transaction of $30,773.28. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $359,442. This trade represents a 7.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,364 shares of company stock worth $734,748. Insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on YELP. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 price target on Yelp in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Yelp from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $27.88.

Yelp 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.