Public Sector Pension Investment Board Has $5.48 Million Stake in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 148,374 shares of the local business review company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,016 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Yelp were worth $5,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Yelp in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Yelp in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Yelp by 262.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 664 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Yelp during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Yelp by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,497 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE:YELP opened at $34.14 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 21.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $34.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.82. Yelp Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.56 and a 12 month high of $48.99.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The local business review company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $357.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.98 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.21 EPS. Yelp’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YELP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on Yelp in a research report on Monday, September 16th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Yelp in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Yelp from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Yelp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,776 shares of Yelp 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 sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 145,171 shares in the company, valued at $5,080,985. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $377,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 145,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,080,985. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total value of $253,680.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 288,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,467,634.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,776 shares of company stock valued at $863,590. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.