Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Shares Down 7.3% – Here’s Why

Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) fell 7.3% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $38.21 and last traded at $37.61. 231,387 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 597,954 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YELP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Yelp to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Yelp from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Yelp from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.17.

Yelp Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of 22.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $39.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.52.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The local business review company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.09. Yelp had a return on equity of 16.02% and a net margin of 8.48%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Yelp Inc. will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In other news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,744 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $377,329.28. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 122,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,301,497.60. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.29, for a total transaction of $382,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 211,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,117,020.52. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 44,011 shares of company stock worth $1,677,131 over the last 90 days. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Yelp by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,743,899 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $96,256,000 after buying an additional 48,363 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Yelp by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,553,227 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $89,567,000 after purchasing an additional 23,719 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Yelp by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,924,457 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $74,477,000 after purchasing an additional 164,149 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Yelp by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,845,575 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $71,424,000 after purchasing an additional 255,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Yelp by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,774,878 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $68,702,000 after purchasing an additional 15,649 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

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.