Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Receives $40.67 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $40.67.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Craig Hallum lowered their target price on Yelp from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Raymond James assumed coverage on Yelp in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Yelp from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th.

Yelp Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:YELP opened at $36.24 on Tuesday. Yelp has a 12-month low of $34.92 and a 12-month high of $48.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.08 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.69.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The local business review company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $332.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $333.66 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 15.69% and a net margin of 8.44%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Yelp will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 2,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.63, for a total transaction of $111,732.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 258,848 shares in the company, valued at $10,516,994.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Carmen Orr sold 14,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $569,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 110,011 shares in the company, valued at $4,180,418. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 2,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.63, for a total value of $111,732.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 258,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,516,994.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,818 shares of company stock valued at $1,855,643 over the last 90 days. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yelp in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Yelp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Yelp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 4,634.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,231 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 65.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,250 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 495 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.