Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on YELP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Yelp from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Yelp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. UBS Group set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Yelp in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $33.00 target price on shares of Yelp in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Yelp from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.29.

Yelp Stock Performance

NYSE YELP opened at $27.50 on Wednesday. Yelp has a one year low of $26.96 and a one year high of $41.72. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $29.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.17, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.55.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The local business review company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $376.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $368.39 million. Yelp had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 20.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Yelp will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In other Yelp news, insider Carmen Amara sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.69, for a total transaction of $46,035.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 74,378 shares in the company, valued at $2,282,660.82. This represents a 1.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Christine Barone sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $450,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 31,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $943,050. The trade was a 32.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 164,906 shares of company stock valued at $4,729,140 over the last ninety days. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Optimus Prime Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Yelp by 553.8% in the third quarter. Optimus Prime Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 850,000 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $26,520,000 after buying an additional 720,000 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in shares of Yelp by 399.0% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 725,214 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $24,853,000 after acquiring an additional 579,894 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Yelp by 268.1% in the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 753,173 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $25,811,000 after acquiring an additional 548,586 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Yelp by 217.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 551,212 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $18,890,000 after purchasing an additional 377,441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Yelp by 1,144.9% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 351,006 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $12,029,000 after purchasing an additional 322,810 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Yelp

Yelp is a digital platform that connects consumers with local businesses through user-generated reviews, ratings and multimedia content. The company’s flagship offerings include the Yelp website and mobile applications for iOS and Android, where users can search for and discover restaurants, shops, service providers and other points of interest. In addition to crowd-sourced reviews and photographs, Yelp provides business profile pages featuring hours, contact information, menus and direct messaging capabilities.

Yelp generates revenue primarily through advertising services sold to small and medium-sized enterprises.