Dan Jedda Sells 1,464 Shares of Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Stock

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Director Dan Jedda sold 1,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.02, for a total value of $30,773.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $359,442. This trade represents a 7.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Yelp Price Performance

NYSE YELP opened at $22.08 on Friday. Yelp Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.60 and a 52-week high of $41.22. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.55.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The local business review company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $358.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 earnings per share. Yelp’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on YELP shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Yelp from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Yelp from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird set a $25.00 price objective on Yelp in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group set a $28.00 target price on Yelp in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $28.50.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Yelp by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,161,711 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $35,304,000 after acquiring an additional 15,849 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,302 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in Yelp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $353,000. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Yelp by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 142,943 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $4,344,000 after acquiring an additional 19,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yelp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $289,000. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.