Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Yelp from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $38.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Yelp in a report on Monday, September 16th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Yelp from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Yelp in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yelp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.00.

Yelp Stock Performance

NYSE:YELP traded up $1.63 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $37.56. 1,033,488 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 727,564. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.68. Yelp has a fifty-two week low of $32.56 and a fifty-two week high of $48.99.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The local business review company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $357.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $352.98 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 16.05% and a net margin of 8.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Yelp will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,776 shares of Yelp 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 owns 145,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,080,985. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Yelp news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.02, for a total value of $238,140.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 255,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,083.16. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 sale, the chief technology officer now owns 145,171 shares in the company, valued at $5,080,985. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of YELP. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 9.0% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 63,126 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $2,487,000 after purchasing an additional 5,234 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in shares of Yelp by 1.3% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 59,927 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $2,361,000 after acquiring an additional 776 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Yelp during the first quarter valued at approximately $235,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Yelp by 207.2% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,804 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 8,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yelp during the first quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

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.