Yelp Inc. $YELP Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 39.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 522,004 shares of the local business review company’s stock after purchasing an additional 147,329 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.88% of Yelp worth $12,914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YELP. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Yelp by 71.3% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,158 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Yelp by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,159 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Yelp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $56,000. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yelp news, Director Christine Barone sold 15,507 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.95, for a total transaction of $355,885.65. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $365,547.60. This represents a 49.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 17,507 shares of company stock worth $402,481 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Yelp in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research upgraded Yelp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 15th. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 price target on shares of Yelp in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Evercore set a $30.00 price target on shares of Yelp in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $27.88.

Yelp Stock Up 2.5%

Yelp stock opened at $25.12 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.46. Yelp Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.60 and a 1-year high of $35.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $24.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.10. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The local business review company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.04. Yelp had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 20.19%. The business had revenue of $361.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $353.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.