Analysts Set Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Target Price at $37.17

Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) have received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.17.

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Yelp to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Yelp from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Yelp from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th.

Yelp Price Performance

NYSE:YELP opened at $39.96 on Wednesday. Yelp has a 1 year low of $32.56 and a 1 year high of $45.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.35.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The local business review company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.16. Yelp had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 16.02%. The firm had revenue of $360.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $360.74 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Yelp will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In other Yelp news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.51, for a total value of $395,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 191,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,585,445.88. This trade represents a 4.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.40, for a total value of $38,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 182,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,010,227.20. This represents a 0.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,865 shares of company stock worth $2,167,768. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yelp

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Yelp by 82.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 637 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth lifted its holdings in Yelp by 1,963.6% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 908 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Yelp by 115.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 976 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Yelp by 76.5% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,094 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Yelp by 54.5% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,148 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Yelp

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.