Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Trading 4.9% Higher – Here’s Why

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)’s share price shot up 4.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $40.71 and last traded at $40.69. 284,872 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 594,247 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.80.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Yelp from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Yelp from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Yelp to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yelp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.17.

Yelp Stock Down 0.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $38.93 and a 200 day moving average of $36.26.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The local business review company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $360.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $360.74 million. Yelp had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 16.02%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Yelp Inc. will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In other Yelp news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.12, for a total transaction of $377,329.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 122,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,301,497.60. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.29, for a total transaction of $382,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 211,988 shares in the company, valued at $8,117,020.52. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,865 shares of company stock valued at $2,167,768. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yelp

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,743,899 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $96,256,000 after acquiring an additional 48,363 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Yelp by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,553,227 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $89,567,000 after purchasing an additional 23,719 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Yelp by 3.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,759,229 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $61,724,000 after purchasing an additional 64,381 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Yelp by 5.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,174,607 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $41,205,000 after purchasing an additional 56,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Yelp by 13.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 654,059 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $22,944,000 after purchasing an additional 78,585 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.