River Road Asset Management LLC Reduces Position in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

River Road Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,251,108 shares of the local business review company's stock after selling 103,744 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC owned approximately 1.87% of Yelp worth $43,889,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Yelp by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 86,231 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $3,398,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Yelp by 9.0% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 63,126 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $2,487,000 after buying an additional 5,234 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yelp during the 1st quarter worth about $449,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yelp during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 633.3% during the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 6,600 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 5,700 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on YELP. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Yelp in a report on Monday, September 16th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Yelp from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com cut Yelp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Yelp from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Yelp in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.33.

Yelp Stock Performance

YELP traded up $0.46 on Tuesday, hitting $34.82. 532,010 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 717,382. Yelp Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.56 and a fifty-two week high of $48.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.33. The business's fifty day moving average is $34.20 and its 200 day moving average is $35.81.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The local business review company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $357.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.98 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 10.01%. Yelp's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.21 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Yelp Inc. will post 1.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yelp news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.02, for a total value of $238,140.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 255,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,083.16. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Yelp news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.02, for a total value of $238,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 255,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,083.16. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,776 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $377,160.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 145,171 shares in the company, valued at $5,080,985. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yelp Profile

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.