Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) was the target of a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 8,660,502 shares, an increase of 14.9% from the March 31st total of 7,536,779 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,010,391 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.6 days. Approximately 15.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Yelp Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE:YELP opened at $27.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of 12.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.47. Yelp has a twelve month low of $19.60 and a twelve month high of $41.22. The company’s 50 day moving average is $25.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.76.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The local business review company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $359.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $358.70 million. Yelp had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 19.96%. Yelp’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.62 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Yelp will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. UBS Group set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Yelp in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Yelp from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Yelp from $30.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Yelp from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $28.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 227,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,698,975. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Dan Jedda sold 1,464 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.02, for a total transaction of $30,773.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $359,442. The trade was a 7.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 96,264 shares of company stock worth $2,476,393 in the last quarter. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bfsg LLC grew its position in Yelp by 110.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 839 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 446 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Yelp by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,159 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Yelp by 71.3% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,158 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Yelp by 181.3% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,297 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.11% 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.