Norges Bank Acquires New Holdings in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 192,632 shares of the local business review company's stock, valued at approximately $7,455,000. Norges Bank owned 0.29% of Yelp at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YELP. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Yelp by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 654,059 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $22,944,000 after purchasing an additional 78,585 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Yelp by 17.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 36,738 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 5,482 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Yelp in the third quarter valued at about $293,000. State Street Corp increased its position in Yelp by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,553,227 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $89,567,000 after purchasing an additional 23,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Yelp during the 3rd quarter worth $264,000. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company's stock.

Yelp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YELP traded up $0.22 during trading on Monday, reaching $34.42. 22,480 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 735,631. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $36.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.08. Yelp Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.56 and a 12-month high of $41.72.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.51, for a total transaction of $395,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 191,988 shares in the company, valued at $7,585,445.88. The trade was a 4.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Sam Eaton sold 21,989 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were 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 owns 153,159 shares in the company, valued at $5,467,776.30. The trade was a 12.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 57,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,081,667. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.