Barclays PLC Buys 124,561 Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 347.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 160,363 shares of the local business review company’s stock after purchasing an additional 124,561 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.24% of Yelp worth $5,627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YELP. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Yelp in the third quarter valued at about $264,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Yelp by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,553,227 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $89,567,000 after buying an additional 23,719 shares during the period. Petrus Trust Company LTA raised its holdings in Yelp by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Petrus Trust Company LTA now owns 22,092 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $775,000 after buying an additional 6,157 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in Yelp by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 543,698 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $19,073,000 after buying an additional 56,598 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in Yelp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,859,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of YELP stock opened at $38.08 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $36.55 and a 200-day moving average of $35.67. The company has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.35. Yelp Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.56 and a 52 week high of $48.99.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Carmen Amara sold 12,854 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.17, for a total value of $490,637.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 88,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,389,992.21. The trade was a 12.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.02, for a total value of $238,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 255,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,083.16. The trade was a 2.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 51,865 shares of company stock valued at $1,934,418 over the last ninety days. 7.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

YELP has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Evercore ISI raised Yelp to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $46.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America began coverage on Yelp in a research report on Monday, September 16th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Yelp from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

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.