Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $2.70 Million Holdings in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its position in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,959 shares of the local business review company’s stock after selling 5,793 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Yelp were worth $2,696,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of YELP. Goodnow Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Yelp by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Goodnow Investment Group LLC now owns 641,660 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $30,376,000 after buying an additional 7,940 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Yelp by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 567,567 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $20,972,000 after buying an additional 6,682 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Yelp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,718,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yelp by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 429,438 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $16,920,000 after buying an additional 21,503 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yelp by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 396,096 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $15,606,000 after buying an additional 13,496 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of Yelp 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 281,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,371,246.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Yelp news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $377,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 145,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,080,985. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.25, for a total value 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 $9,371,246.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,776 shares of company stock valued at $863,590 over the last three months. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Stock Performance

NYSE YELP opened at $34.28 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $34.79 and a 200-day moving average of $36.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.83 and a beta of 1.33. Yelp Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.56 and a 52 week high of $48.99.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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