Analysts Set Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Target Price at $37.17

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the nine analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $37.17.

Separately, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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.

Yelp Price Performance

NYSE YELP traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $35.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,671,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 684,653. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.40. Yelp has a 52-week low of $32.56 and a 52-week high of $41.72. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $37.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.69.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $361.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $350.73 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 18.07% and a net margin of 9.41%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Yelp will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In related news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the company's 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 191,988 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,585,445.88. This represents a 4.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.99, for a total transaction of $37,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 183,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,973,368.42. This represents a 0.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 57,727 shares of company stock worth $2,083,317 in the last ninety days. 7.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Yelp by 375.2% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,331,835 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $51,542,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051,588 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Yelp by 163.4% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 853,867 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $33,045,000 after purchasing an additional 529,667 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Yelp by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,845,575 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $71,424,000 after purchasing an additional 255,775 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Yelp by 70.7% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 601,632 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $23,283,000 after purchasing an additional 249,231 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Yelp by 87.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 507,990 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $19,659,000 after purchasing an additional 236,400 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yelp Company 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.