Analysts Set Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) PT at $37.17

Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) have been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the nine brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $37.17.

Several research analysts have commented on YELP shares. StockNews.com raised Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Yelp from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Yelp from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Yelp to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $38.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.12, for a total value of $377,329.28. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 122,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,301,497.60. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.99, for a total transaction of $37,990.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 183,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,973,368.42. This trade represents a 0.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 56,865 shares of company stock valued at $2,167,768. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in YELP. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Yelp by 82.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 637 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 1,963.6% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 908 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 115.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 976 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Yelp by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,094 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Yelp by 54.5% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,148 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yelp Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE YELP opened at $40.23 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.33. Yelp has a 1 year low of $32.56 and a 1 year high of $45.91.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The local business review company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.16. Yelp had a return on equity of 16.02% and a net margin of 8.48%. The firm had revenue of $360.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $360.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Yelp will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current year.

About Yelp

Yelp Inc operates a platform that connects consumers with local businesses in the United States and internationally. The company's platform covers various categories, including restaurants, shopping, beauty and fitness, health, and other categories, as well as home, local, auto, professional, pets, events, real estate, and financial services.