Analysts Set Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Price Target at $36.33

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) has received an average rating of “Reduce” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $36.33.

Separately, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Yelp from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In other Yelp news, insider Carmen Amara sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total value of $49,740.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 107,207 shares in the company, valued at $3,554,984.12. The trade was a 1.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Sam Eaton sold 21,989 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total transaction of $785,007.30. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 153,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,467,776.30. The trade was a 12.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 57,727 shares of company stock worth $2,029,667. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yelp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 82.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 637 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Avion Wealth increased its stake in shares of Yelp by 1,963.6% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 908 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Yelp by 76.5% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,094 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yelp by 307.4% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,096 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new position in Yelp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Yelp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YELP opened at $32.59 on Thursday. Yelp has a 1 year low of $32.29 and a 1 year high of $41.72. The business’s 50-day moving average is $35.40 and its 200-day moving average is $36.89. The company has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.08.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The local business review company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $361.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $350.73 million. Yelp had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 18.07%. Analysts anticipate that Yelp will post 2.22 EPS 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.