Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Yelp (NYSE:YELP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on YELP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Yelp from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Evercore cut their price target on Yelp from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Yelp from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Zacks Research upgraded Yelp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Yelp from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.50.

Yelp Price Performance

Yelp stock opened at $20.96 on Friday. Yelp has a 1 year low of $20.03 and a 1 year high of $41.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $28.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.32, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.55.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The local business review company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $359.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $358.70 million. Yelp had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 19.79%. Yelp’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Yelp will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In other news, Director Christine Barone sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $450,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 31,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $943,050. The trade was a 32.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 13,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.41, for a total value of $410,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 127,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,881,137.07. This represents a 9.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 261,106 shares of company stock worth $7,260,184. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in Yelp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Bfsg LLC boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 110.3% during the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 839 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 100.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 70.4% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,159 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Yelp by 1,102.0% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,202 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Yelp News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Yelp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Yelp beat Wall Street on Q4 earnings and reported record net revenue for 2025, showing profitability (Q4 EPS $0.61 vs. $0.47 consensus) and a solid full‑year performance. Business Wire: Yelp Delivers Record Net Revenue
• Neutral Sentiment: The company posted its earnings materials and call transcript (slides and management remarks provide the detail behind results and the investment plan). Investors can review the transcript/slide deck for management’s commentary on AI strategy and product rollouts. Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Yelp gave tepid near‑term sales guidance (Q1 / FY2026 revenue range viewed as conservative), and analysts flagged light first‑quarter revenue outlook as the primary reason shares fell despite the beat. Zacks: Stock Dips on Tepid Sales Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Management is accelerating AI investments, which the company says are strategic but which analysts warn will pressure margins and raise near‑term expenses — a concern for investors focused on margin durability. MSN: Q4 Deep Dive — AI Investments and Margin Pressures
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CEO Jeremy Stoppelman sold about $1.7M of stock in early February, which can amplify negative sentiment when investors are already uncertain about guidance and margins. Fool: CEO Sold $1.7M of Shares

Yelp Company Profile

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.