Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $7.64 Million Holdings in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its holdings in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 197,318 shares of the local business review company’s stock after selling 21,036 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Yelp were worth $7,636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of YELP. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Yelp by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 507,990 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $19,659,000 after buying an additional 236,400 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 347.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 160,363 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $5,627,000 after acquiring an additional 124,561 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yelp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,279,000. Globeflex Capital L P boosted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 558.9% during the fourth quarter. Globeflex Capital L P now owns 123,880 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $4,794,000 after acquiring an additional 105,078 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 136.5% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 181,622 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $6,371,000 after acquiring an additional 104,839 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of YELP stock opened at $35.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.69. Yelp Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.56 and a 1 year high of $41.72.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The local business review company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $361.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $350.73 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 18.07% and a net margin of 9.41%. Analysts forecast that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Yelp

In other Yelp news, insider Carmen Amara sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total transaction of $49,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 107,207 shares in the company, valued at $3,554,984.12. This represents a 1.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.99, for a total value of $37,990.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 183,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,973,368.42. The trade was a 0.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 57,727 shares of company stock worth $2,083,317. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Yelp from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.17.

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.