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

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) has earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.17.

Separately, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Yelp from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th.

Yelp Price Performance

YELP opened at $35.73 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $37.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.69. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.40. Yelp has a 12 month low of $32.56 and a 12 month high of $41.72.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The local business review company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.09. Yelp had a return on equity of 18.07% and a net margin of 9.41%. The company had revenue of $361.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $350.73 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Yelp will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Carmen Amara sold 11,238 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $393,330.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 108,123 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,784,305. The trade was a 9.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.80, for a total value of $348,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 242,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,453,476.80. This represents a 3.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,727 shares of company stock worth $2,083,317 in the last ninety days. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Yelp by 82.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 637 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Avion Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 1,963.6% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 908 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position 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 period. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yelp during the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yelp by 75.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,717 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.