Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Yelp (NYSE:YELP) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Monday morning.

YELP has been the topic of several other reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Yelp in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Yelp from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $46.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Yelp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Yelp from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.00.

Yelp Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE YELP opened at $36.43 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $34.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.68. The company has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.33. Yelp has a 12-month low of $32.56 and a 12-month high of $48.99.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yelp news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 145,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,080,985. This represents a 6.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Carmen Amara sold 12,854 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.17, for a total value of $490,637.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 88,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,389,992.21. This represents a 12.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,630 shares of company stock valued at $1,105,937 over the last 90 days. 7.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Yelp by 262.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 664 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Yelp during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Yelp by 115.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 976 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Yelp by 54.5% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,148 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yelp by 98.5% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

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.