Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Insider Sells $34,450.00 in Stock

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.45, for a total value of $34,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 222,512 shares in the company, valued at $7,665,538.40. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Craig Saldanha also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 24th, Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of Yelp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.34, for a total transaction of $36,340.00.
• On Monday, February 24th, Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of Yelp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $35,750.00.
• On Thursday, January 23rd, Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of Yelp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.40, for a total value of $38,400.00.

Yelp Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE YELP opened at $35.44 on Friday. Yelp Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.29 and a 52 week high of $41.72. The firm has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $35.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.86.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The local business review company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.09. Yelp had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 18.07%. The firm had revenue of $361.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $350.73 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YELP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Yelp from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Yelp from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.33.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 347.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 160,363 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $5,627,000 after purchasing an additional 124,561 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Yelp by 11.7% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 13,648 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,427 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Yelp by 1.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 125,492 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $4,323,000 after buying an additional 1,587 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Yelp by 75.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,717 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares during the period. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yelp during the 4th quarter worth about $112,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

About Yelp

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.