Vanguard Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,203,382 shares of the local business review company’s stock after selling 60,357 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 13.44% of Yelp worth $435,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 65.8% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,215,355 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $57,535,000 after purchasing an additional 482,242 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Yelp in the fourth quarter valued at $20,718,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 186.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 463,505 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $21,942,000 after purchasing an additional 301,715 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 629.6% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 312,510 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $14,794,000 after purchasing an additional 269,676 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Yelp in the third quarter valued at $6,238,000. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YELP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Yelp in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Yelp from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Craig Hallum cut their price target on shares of Yelp from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Yelp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.67.

Yelp Stock Performance

Yelp stock opened at $36.82 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.77 and its 200-day moving average is $40.61. Yelp Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.92 and a 1 year high of $48.99. The company has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.45 and a beta of 1.35.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The local business review company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.16. Yelp had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 15.69%. The company had revenue of $332.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $333.66 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In related news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 4,941 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.53, for a total value of $180,494.73. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 295,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,807,108.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 4,941 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.53, for a total value of $180,494.73. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 295,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,807,108.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Sam Eaton sold 26,718 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.62, for a total transaction of $978,413.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 167,861 shares in the company, valued at $6,147,069.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,818 shares of company stock worth $1,855,643. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Yelp Profile

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.