Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Upgraded by Zacks Research to “Hold” Rating

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Yelp (NYSE:YELP) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on YELP. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Yelp in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 target price on Yelp in a report on Friday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Yelp from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Evercore set a $30.00 price target on Yelp in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $27.88.

Yelp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YELP opened at $21.65 on Thursday. Yelp has a 12 month low of $19.60 and a 12 month high of $39.72. The stock has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.89, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $25.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 2.99.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.04. Yelp had a return on equity of 20.19% and a net margin of 9.47%.The firm had revenue of $361.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $353.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Yelp will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In other Yelp news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was 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 approximately $5,698,975. This represents a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 267,835 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,881.20. This represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,864 shares of company stock valued at $723,573. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yelp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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 in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position 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 worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position 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 worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Yelp

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.