Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Shares Sold by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can lessened its position in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) by 90.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,949 shares of the local business review company's stock after selling 96,467 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can's holdings in Yelp were worth $385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of YELP. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 16.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings 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 worth $23,283,000 after buying an additional 249,231 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $19,659,000 after acquiring an additional 236,400 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Yelp in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,455,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP raised its position in shares of Yelp by 609.5% during the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 159,157 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $6,159,000 after acquiring an additional 136,724 shares in the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on YELP shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Yelp from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Yelp from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yelp news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 21,989 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total transaction of $785,007.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 153,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,467,776.30. This represents a 12.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.31, for a total transaction of $343,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 239,112 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,203,932.72. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,029,667 over the last quarter. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Yelp Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE YELP opened at $33.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $35.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.87. Yelp Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.29 and a twelve month high of $41.72.

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

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.

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