StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Yelp (NYSE:YELP)

Analysts at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Yelp (NYSE:YELP – Get Rating) in a research report issued on Thursday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating on the local business review company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on YELP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Yelp from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Yelp from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Credit Suisse Group boosted their target price on Yelp from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Yelp from $31.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday, February 13th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Yelp from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Yelp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.00.

Yelp Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE YELP opened at $29.17 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.49. The firm has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of 57.20 and a beta of 1.45. Yelp has a twelve month low of $25.30 and a twelve month high of $39.26.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 9th. The local business review company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $309.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.34 million. Yelp had a net margin of 3.05% and a return on equity of 5.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Yelp will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In other Yelp news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 12,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.24, for a total transaction of $367,506.72. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 226,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,853,805.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 12,153 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.24, for a total value of $367,506.72. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 226,647 shares in the company, valued at $6,853,805.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeremy Stoppelman sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.65, for a total value of $1,432,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 501,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,374,736.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 390,605 shares of company stock worth $11,371,956. 7.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Yelp by 33.5% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,944 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 1,241 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Yelp by 41.2% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 81,542 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $2,781,000 after purchasing an additional 23,806 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Yelp by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 196,631 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $6,707,000 after purchasing an additional 8,007 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in Yelp by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 25,154 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $858,000 after purchasing an additional 2,398 shares during the period. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its holdings in Yelp by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 39,573 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $1,389,000 after purchasing an additional 3,344 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.01% of the company’s stock.

About Yelp

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Yelp, Inc engages in the business of operating a community-driven platform that connects people with great local businesses. The company was founded by Jeremy Stoppelman and Russell Simmons in July 2004 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.