Yelp (NYSE:YELP – Get Rating) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.
YELP has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Yelp from $30.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Yelp from $31.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, February 13th. Credit Suisse Group upped their price target on shares of Yelp from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Yelp from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Yelp from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.89.
Yelp Price Performance
Shares of YELP stock traded up $0.59 on Friday, hitting $27.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,259,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 566,214. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.67 and a beta of 1.45. Yelp has a 1 year low of $25.30 and a 1 year high of $39.26. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $29.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.28.
Yelp (NYSE:YELP – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 9th. The local business review company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.03). Yelp had a return on equity of 5.09% and a net margin of 3.05%. The firm had revenue of $309.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $306.34 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Yelp will post 0.92 EPS for the current year.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.77, for a total value of $184,620.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 339,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,453,892.11. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.77, for a total transaction of $184,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 339,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,453,892.11. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Sam Eaton sold 12,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.24, for a total transaction of $367,506.72. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 226,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,853,805.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,274 shares of company stock worth $765,757 in the last quarter. 7.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp
Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Yelp during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yelp during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Yelp during the third quarter valued at $32,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Yelp by 127.6% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 867 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Yelp during the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.01% of the company’s stock.
Yelp Company Profile
Yelp, Inc engages in the business of operating a community-driven platform that connects people with great local businesses. The company was founded by Jeremy Stoppelman and Russell Simmons in July 2004 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.