JPMorgan Chase & Co. Acquires 249,231 Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) by 70.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 601,632 shares of the local business review company's stock after acquiring an additional 249,231 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.91% of Yelp worth $23,283,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of YELP. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Yelp by 82.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 637 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Avion Wealth raised its stake in shares of Yelp by 1,963.6% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 908 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Yelp by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,094 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 75.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,717 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 1,815 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company's stock.

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Yelp Price Performance

Shares of YELP traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $33.87. The stock had a trading volume of 73,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 804,456. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.08. The company's fifty day moving average is $36.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.93. Yelp Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.56 and a 52 week high of $41.72.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The local business review company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $361.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $350.73 million. Yelp had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 18.07%. Equities analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Yelp from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 21,989 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total value of $785,007.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 153,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,467,776.30. The trade was a 12.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.51, for a total transaction of $395,100.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 191,988 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,585,445.88. This represents a 4.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 67,727 shares of company stock worth $2,424,767 in the last three months. Insiders own 7.40% 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.