Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 42.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 16,967 shares of the local business review company’s stock after buying an additional 5,071 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yelp were worth $657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of YELP. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 654,059 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $22,944,000 after buying an additional 78,585 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 347.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 160,363 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $5,627,000 after purchasing an additional 124,561 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yelp in the third quarter valued at approximately $732,000. Bristlecone Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yelp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,197,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yelp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $745,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Yelp from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yelp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.17.

Yelp Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of Yelp stock opened at $38.41 on Thursday. Yelp Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.56 and a fifty-two week high of $41.72. The business’s fifty day moving average is $37.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.76. The firm has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a PE ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.40.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The local business review company reported $0.62 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $361.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $350.73 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In related news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.51, for a total transaction of $395,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 191,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,585,445.88. This represents a 4.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $35,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 211,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,563,198.50. This trade represents a 0.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,727 shares of company stock worth $2,081,667 in the last three months. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

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.