Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 301,715 Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 186.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 463,505 shares of the local business review company’s stock after buying an additional 301,715 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.68% of Yelp worth $21,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 65.8% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,215,355 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $57,535,000 after buying an additional 482,242 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 104,563 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $4,950,000 after buying an additional 613 shares during the period. Wealthstar Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Yelp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $305,000. Heron Bay Capital Management raised its position in Yelp by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Heron Bay Capital Management now owns 14,506 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new position in Yelp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $352,000. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Yelp Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of YELP opened at $39.12 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.98 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.87. Yelp Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.53 and a 12 month high of $48.99.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The local business review company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. The company had revenue of $342.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $341.83 million. Yelp had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In related news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.75, for a total value of $268,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 248,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,141,676. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Yelp news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.40, for a total value of $119,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 194,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,460,092.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.75, for a total transaction of $268,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 248,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,141,676. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,750 shares of company stock valued at $620,830 in the last 90 days. 7.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YELP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Craig Hallum lowered their price objective on shares of Yelp from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. Finally, Raymond James started coverage on shares of Yelp in a report on Wednesday. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.75.

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.