Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Decreases Stock Holdings in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado reduced its stake in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,393 shares of the local business review company’s stock after selling 538 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Yelp were worth $273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Yelp during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 262.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 664 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Yelp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Yelp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Yelp in the first quarter valued at approximately $70,000. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.25, for a total transaction of $232,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 281,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,371,246.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $377,160.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 145,171 shares in the company, valued at $5,080,985. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.25, for a total transaction of $232,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 281,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,371,246.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,776 shares of company stock worth $863,590. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YELP opened at $34.91 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.33. Yelp Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.56 and a 1 year high of $48.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $34.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.77.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The local business review company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.27. Yelp had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The firm had revenue of $357.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Yelp in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Yelp from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Yelp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Yelp in a report on Monday, September 16th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.20.

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.