Short Interest in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Declines By 18.1%

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,530,000 shares, a drop of 18.1% from the March 15th total of 4,310,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 826,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days. Approximately 5.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Yelp from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.33.

Yelp Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:YELP traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $33.06. The company had a trading volume of 630,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 740,135. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $35.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.88. Yelp has a 1-year low of $32.56 and a 1-year high of $41.72. The stock has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a PE ratio of 17.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.08.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The local business review company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.09. Yelp had a return on equity of 18.07% and a net margin of 9.41%. The firm had revenue of $361.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $350.73 million. On average, research analysts expect that Yelp will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.40, for a total transaction of $38,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 182,558 shares in the company, valued at $7,010,227.20. The trade was a 0.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.31, for a total transaction of $343,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 239,112 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,203,932.72. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 57,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,029,667. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yelp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Yelp by 82.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 637 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Avion Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 1,963.6% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 908 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 76.5% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,094 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 307.4% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,096 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new position in Yelp during the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.