Meritage Portfolio Management Acquires 1,812 Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its holdings in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,385 shares of the local business review company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,812 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Yelp were worth $634,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Yelp by 1,089.2% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 188,371 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $6,960,000 after acquiring an additional 172,531 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yelp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $499,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of Yelp by 28.5% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 17,581 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Yelp by 115.9% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 87.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,568 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 1,665 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YELP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Evercore ISI raised shares of Yelp to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $46.00 to $38.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Yelp from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.17.

Yelp Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Yelp stock opened at $39.87 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of 23.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $39.35 and its 200 day moving average is $36.39. Yelp Inc. 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 net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 16.02%. The firm had revenue of $360.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $360.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Yelp Inc. will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Yelp

In other Yelp news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total value of $38,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 184,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,022,431.90. This represents a 0.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Carmen Amara sold 12,854 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.17, for a total transaction of $490,637.18. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 88,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,389,992.21. This trade represents a 12.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,865 shares of company stock valued at $2,167,768 in the last 90 days. 7.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yelp Company Profile

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.