Ameriprise Financial Inc. Grows Position in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) by 375.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,331,835 shares of the local business review company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,051,588 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 2.02% of Yelp worth $51,542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC increased its position in Yelp by 347.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 160,363 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $5,627,000 after buying an additional 124,561 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Yelp by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 125,492 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $4,323,000 after purchasing an additional 1,587 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Yelp by 75.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,717 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Yelp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 93,166.7% during the fourth quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 2,798 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 2,795 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company's stock.

Yelp Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:YELP traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.00. The company had a trading volume of 817,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 733,085. The stock has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.99. The company's 50 day moving average price is $35.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.07. Yelp Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.29 and a 52-week high of $41.72.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The local business review company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $358.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.48 million. Yelp had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 18.07%. Yelp's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.20 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.80, for a total value of $348,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 242,916 shares in the company, valued at $8,453,476.80. The trade was a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $35,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 211,558 shares in the company, valued at $7,563,198.50. This represents a 0.47% 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 valued at $2,025,717. 8.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented 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 research 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, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $34.00.

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.