Insider Selling: Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Insider Sells 1,000 Shares of Stock

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.40, for a total value of $38,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 182,558 shares in the company, valued at $7,010,227.20. This represents a 0.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Craig Saldanha also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, December 23rd, Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of Yelp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.99, for a total transaction of $37,990.00.
• On Friday, November 29th, Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of Yelp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total transaction of $38,050.00.

Yelp Price Performance

YELP opened at $38.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a PE ratio of 23.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.34. Yelp Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.56 and a fifty-two week high of $45.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $38.73 and a 200-day moving average of $36.18.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The local business review company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $360.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $360.74 million. Yelp had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 16.02%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised 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 valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Yelp by 76.5% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,094 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Yelp by 54.5% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,148 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Yelp by 98.5% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its position in Yelp by 153.4% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,323 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on YELP. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Yelp from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI upgraded Yelp to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Yelp from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.17.

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.