Brokerages Set Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Price Target at $34.00

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) has been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $35.40.

YELP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Yelp in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Yelp from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $45.00 price target on Yelp and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday.

Yelp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YELP opened at $33.94 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s 50-day moving average is $31.67 and its 200-day moving average is $34.28. Yelp has a 1 year low of $29.96 and a 1 year high of $41.72.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The local business review company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $370.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.71 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 10.28%.The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. Yelp has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts anticipate that Yelp will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.24, for a total transaction of $312,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 170,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,316,923.04. This represents a 5.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total value of $37,116.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 202,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,263,325. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 37,400 shares of company stock valued at $1,211,130. 7.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YELP. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Yelp by 2,600.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,362 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $1,717,000 after purchasing an additional 44,645 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Yelp by 307.4% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,096 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Yelp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $305,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC bought a new stake in Yelp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $336,000. Finally, CX Institutional bought a new stake in Yelp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,689,000. 90.11% of the stock is 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.