Ameriprise Financial Inc. Purchases 1,051,588 Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 375.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,331,835 shares of the local business review company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,051,588 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s holdings in Yelp were worth $51,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Yelp by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 1,815 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Yelp by 82.5% during the 4th 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 during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Yelp by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,767 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P lifted its position in shares of Yelp by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 60,697 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $2,349,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Yelp by 76.5% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,094 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Yelp from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Yelp from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 21,989 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total value of $785,007.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 153,159 shares in the company, valued at $5,467,776.30. This trade represents a 12.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.45, for a total transaction of $34,450.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 222,512 shares in the company, valued at $7,665,538.40. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 57,727 shares of company stock worth $2,025,717. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Stock Up 8.6 %

Yelp stock opened at $38.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.99. Yelp Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.29 and a 12-month high of $41.72. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $35.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.98.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The local business review company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.05. Yelp had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 18.07%. The business had revenue of $358.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $353.48 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.20 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

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.