Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Raises Holdings in Yelp Inc. $YELP

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 884,522 shares of the local business review company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,528 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 1.44% of Yelp worth $26,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Yelp by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 58,298 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $1,998,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Yelp by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,204 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Yelp by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 35,838 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Yelp by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 19,871 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Yelp by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on YELP. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 target price on Yelp in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Zacks Research upgraded Yelp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Yelp in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yelp currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $27.88.

Yelp Price Performance

NYSE YELP opened at $22.74 on Friday. Yelp Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.60 and a 1-year high of $39.58. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $25.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The local business review company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.04. Yelp had a return on equity of 20.19% and a net margin of 9.47%.The company had revenue of $361.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $353.47 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. Yelp’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 227,959 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,698,975. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.72, for a total value of $29,664.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 267,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,620,881.20. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 27,900 shares of company stock worth $703,975 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Company Profile

Yelp is a digital platform that connects consumers with local businesses through user-generated reviews, ratings and multimedia content. The company’s flagship offerings include the Yelp website and mobile applications for iOS and Android, where users can search for and discover restaurants, shops, service providers and other points of interest. In addition to crowd-sourced reviews and photographs, Yelp provides business profile pages featuring hours, contact information, menus and direct messaging capabilities.

Yelp generates revenue primarily through advertising services sold to small and medium-sized enterprises.