Headwater Capital Co Ltd Invests $4.56 Million in Yelp Inc. $YELP

Headwater Capital Co Ltd acquired a new position in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 150,000 shares of the local business review company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,558,000. Yelp comprises about 0.7% of Headwater Capital Co Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Yelp by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Yelp by 70.4% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,159 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Yelp by 181.3% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,297 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Yelp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Yelp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Stock Up 3.1%

NYSE:YELP opened at $23.26 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of 10.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.47. Yelp Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.60 and a twelve month high of $35.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company’s 50 day moving average is $24.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.07.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The local business review company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $361.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $353.47 million. Yelp had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 20.19%. Yelp’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Yelp Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In other Yelp news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 7,500 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total transaction of $199,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 209,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,567,380. The trade was a 3.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Christine Barone sold 15,507 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.95, for a total transaction of $355,885.65. Following the sale, the director owned 15,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $365,547.60. The trade was a 49.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,707 shares of company stock worth $819,145. Company insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YELP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 target price on shares of Yelp in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Yelp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Yelp in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Yelp from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yelp has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $27.88.

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.