Vestcor Inc Acquires 122,546 Shares of Yelp Inc. $YELP

Vestcor Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 548.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 144,902 shares of the local business review company’s stock after acquiring an additional 122,546 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc owned 0.23% of Yelp worth $4,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yelp during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,207,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted 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 buying an additional 548,586 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 925,898 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $28,888,000 after buying an additional 241,963 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments bought a new position in Yelp during the third quarter valued at about $1,185,000. Finally, Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. grew its position in Yelp by 150.0% during the third quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 105,000 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $3,276,000 after buying an additional 63,000 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yelp Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE YELP opened at $24.22 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of 10.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.56. Yelp Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.60 and a 52 week high of $41.22. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.24.

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. Yelp had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 19.96%. The firm had revenue of $359.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $358.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Carmen Amara sold 1,500 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.69, for a total value of $46,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 74,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,282,660.82. The trade was a 1.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeremy Stoppelman sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.26, for a total transaction of $817,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 756,458 shares in the company, valued at $20,621,045.08. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 236,264 shares of company stock valued at $6,501,015. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on YELP. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Yelp from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Evercore decreased their price target on shares of Yelp from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $25.00 price target on shares of Yelp in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $28.50.

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.