Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at Raymond James

Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Yelp (NYSE:YELP) in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a market perform rating on the local business review company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Craig Hallum cut their target price on Yelp from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Yelp from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Saturday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $41.75.

Yelp Stock Performance

Shares of Yelp stock opened at $39.12 on Wednesday. Yelp has a 52-week low of $26.53 and a 52-week high of $48.99. The stock has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a PE ratio of 28.98 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.67 and a 200-day moving average of $42.87.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The local business review company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. Yelp had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The firm had revenue of $342.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $341.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Yelp will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total value of $232,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 312,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,134,452.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total transaction of $232,980.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 312,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,134,452.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.40, for a total value of $119,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 194,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,460,092.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,750 shares of company stock valued at $620,830. 7.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YELP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yelp by 6.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,253,025 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $313,770,000 after acquiring an additional 577,514 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Yelp by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,642,699 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $89,614,000 after purchasing an additional 123,355 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Yelp by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,496,166 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $103,789,000 after buying an additional 384,566 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Yelp by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,066,180 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $63,430,000 after buying an additional 107,348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Yelp by 2.1% in the first quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 1,898,630 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $58,288,000 after buying an additional 39,433 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.