Empowered Funds LLC Boosts Holdings in Yelp Inc. $YELP

Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 192.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 367,028 shares of the local business review company’s stock after acquiring an additional 241,656 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.67% of Yelp worth $9,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of YELP. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Yelp by 100.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,159 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 479 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 71.3% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,158 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yelp by 181.3% during 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. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Yelp during the 1st quarter worth $56,000. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yelp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YELP opened at $26.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. Yelp Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.60 and a 1-year high of $35.26. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.03, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50-day moving average of $24.49 and a 200-day moving average of $24.96.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on YELP. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 price target on Yelp in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research raised Yelp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Evercore set a $30.00 target price on Yelp in a report on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $27.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In related news, Director Christine Barone sold 15,507 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $365,547.60. This trade represents a 49.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 17,507 shares of company stock valued at $402,481 in the last ninety days. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Yelp Profile

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.