Brokerages Set Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Price Target at $41.75

Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.75.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Yelp in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In related news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total transaction of $232,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 312,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,134,452.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Yelp news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.63, for a total transaction of $111,732.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 258,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,516,994.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total transaction of $232,980.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 312,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,134,452.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 7.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,496,166 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $103,789,000 after buying an additional 384,566 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Yelp by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,994,129 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $94,402,000 after acquiring an additional 13,790 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Yelp by 65.8% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,215,355 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $57,535,000 after purchasing an additional 482,242 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,019,944 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $48,284,000 after purchasing an additional 12,511 shares during the period. Finally, Goodnow Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Yelp by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Goodnow Investment Group LLC now owns 641,660 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $30,376,000 after purchasing an additional 7,940 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Price Performance

Shares of YELP opened at $40.44 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of 30.03 and a beta of 1.49. Yelp has a one year low of $26.53 and a one year high of $48.99.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The local business review company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. The company had revenue of $342.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $341.83 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 7.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. Analysts expect that Yelp will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.