Sam Eaton Sells 26,718 Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Stock

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) CTO Sam Eaton sold 26,718 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.62, for a total transaction of $978,413.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 167,861 shares in the company, valued at $6,147,069.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Yelp Price Performance

NYSE:YELP opened at $36.41 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.01. Yelp Inc. has a one year low of $32.64 and a one year high of $48.99. The company has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a PE ratio of 23.19 and a beta of 1.44.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The local business review company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $332.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $333.66 million. Yelp had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 15.69%. Equities research analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Yelp in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Craig Hallum decreased their price target on shares of Yelp from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Yelp from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yelp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Yelp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yelp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Yelp by 4,634.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,231 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yelp by 65.6% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,250 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.