Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Raises Stake in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 13.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,879 shares of the local business review company’s stock after buying an additional 804 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Yelp were worth $254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yelp during the first quarter worth $25,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 262.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 664 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Yelp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Yelp during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Yelp during the first quarter worth approximately $70,000. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yelp Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YELP opened at $34.91 on Monday. Yelp Inc. has a one year low of $32.56 and a one year high of $48.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.75.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In other news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 281,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,371,246.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 281,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,371,246.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,080,985. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,776 shares of company stock valued at $863,590. 7.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Yelp Company 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.