Carmen Amara Sells 500 Shares of Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Stock

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) insider Carmen Amara sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.35, for a total value of $11,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 132,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,955,206.40. The trade was a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Yelp Stock Performance

Shares of YELP traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $22.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,053,622 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,337,916. Yelp Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.60 and a 1-year high of $39.58. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.25, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The local business review company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.04. Yelp had a return on equity of 20.19% and a net margin of 9.47%.The company had revenue of $361.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $353.47 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Yelp Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 price target on Yelp in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Yelp in a report on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Yelp from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $27.88.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yelp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Yelp by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Yelp by 71.3% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,158 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Yelp by 70.4% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,159 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Yelp by 181.3% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,297 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Yelp in the 1st quarter valued at $56,000. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.