Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its stake in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,681 shares of the local business review company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Yelp were worth $648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of YELP. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in Yelp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Yelp by 4,634.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,231 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Yelp by 65.6% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,250 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 495 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in Yelp in the third quarter valued at about $134,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC purchased a new position in Yelp during the third quarter worth about $203,000. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on YELP. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. Raymond James assumed coverage on Yelp in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.75.

Yelp Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE YELP opened at $40.92 on Tuesday. Yelp Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.53 and a 12-month high of $48.99. The stock has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.31 and a beta of 1.49. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.50.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The local business review company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.37. Yelp had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 7.42%. The business had revenue of $342.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $341.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Yelp Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total transaction of $232,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 312,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,134,452.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total value of $232,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 312,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,134,452.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.63, for a total transaction of $111,732.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 258,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,516,994.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.20% of the stock is 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.