Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Given New $18.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) had its price target cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $19.00 to $18.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the local business review company’s stock.

YELP has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Yelp in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Yelp from $24.00 to $17.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Yelp in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Yelp in a research note on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research raised Yelp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.14.

Yelp Stock Performance

NYSE:YELP opened at $19.41 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 9.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.43. Yelp has a fifty-two week low of $17.26 and a fifty-two week high of $34.49.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The local business review company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $370.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.66 million. Yelp had a net margin of 8.29% and a return on equity of 19.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Yelp will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Yelp news, CTO Alexander Coleman Levy sold 3,829 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.40, for a total transaction of $89,598.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 54,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,266,501.60. The trade was a 6.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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. Also, CFO David Schwarzbach sold 8,809 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.19, for a total transaction of $204,280.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 180,466 shares in the company, valued at $4,185,006.54. This trade represents a 4.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 28,638 shares of company stock valued at $614,249 over the last 90 days. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Money Concepts Capital Corp lifted its holdings in Yelp by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 96,925 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 13,998 shares in the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Yelp during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System acquired a new position in shares of Yelp in the third quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Lido Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Yelp by 27.0% in the third quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 10,891 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 2,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Yelp during the third quarter valued at approximately $185,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

About Yelp

Yelp Inc operates an online platform that helps consumers discover and evaluate local businesses. Through its website and mobile applications, Yelp provides business listings, user-generated reviews, ratings, photos and other information across categories such as restaurants, home services, beauty and fitness, automotive, health and professional services.

The company generates revenue primarily by providing businesses with advertising and marketing solutions designed to increase their visibility and connect them with potential customers.