Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Sets New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $27.09 and last traded at $27.3330, with a volume of 213208 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $28.32.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on YELP shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Yelp from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $33.00 target price on shares of Yelp in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Zacks Research cut shares of Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Yelp from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, UBS Group set a $28.00 target price on shares of Yelp in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $31.29.

Yelp Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $29.70 and a 200-day moving average of $31.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.55.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The local business review company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.14. Yelp had a return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 10.23%.The firm had revenue of $376.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.41, for a total transaction of $410,535.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 127,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,881,137.07. This represents a 9.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Christine Barone sold 15,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $450,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 31,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $943,050. The trade was a 32.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 134,906 shares of company stock valued at $3,907,440 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bfsg LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 110.3% in the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 839 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Yelp during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management grew its position in shares of Yelp by 1,102.0% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,202 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Yelp in the 3rd quarter worth $55,000. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by 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.