Brokerages Set Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Price Target at $41.75

Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.75.

YELP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. Raymond James initiated coverage on Yelp in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company.

Yelp Trading Down 0.0 %

Yelp stock opened at $39.99 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a PE ratio of 29.62 and a beta of 1.44. Yelp has a 12 month low of $26.53 and a 12 month high of $48.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.41.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $342.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $341.83 million. Yelp had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Yelp will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yelp news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 2,750 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.63, for a total transaction of $111,732.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 258,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,516,994.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Yelp news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 2,750 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.63, for a total transaction of $111,732.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 258,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,516,994.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 6,000 shares of Yelp 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 directly owns 312,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,134,452.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Gladius Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 2,835 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Heron Bay Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Heron Bay Capital Management now owns 14,506 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $687,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 86,231 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $3,398,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 14,121 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $668,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 45,681 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $1,900,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

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.