Bank of America Lowers Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Price Target to $30.00

Key Points

• Bank of America has decreased its price target for Yelp from $31.00 to $30.00, maintaining an "underperform" rating, indicating a potential downside of 12.95% from the current price.
• Multiple analysts, including Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co., have also lowered their price targets for Yelp, forecasting a consensus target price of $34.00.
• Yelp reported an EPS of $0.67 for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, with revenues of $370.39 million, reflecting a 3.7% increase compared to the prior year.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by Bank of America from $31.00 to $30.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "underperform" rating on the local business review company's stock. Bank of America's target price indicates a potential downside of 12.95% from the company's current price.

Several other analysts have also commented on YELP. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Yelp from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Yelp from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Yelp from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $34.00.

Yelp Stock Up 0.9%

YELP opened at $34.46 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $35.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.15. The company has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.97. Yelp has a 52-week low of $32.28 and a 52-week high of $41.72.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The local business review company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.19. Yelp had a return on equity of 19.42% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $370.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $365.71 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Yelp will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In other Yelp news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total transaction of $35,230.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 212,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,494,125.60. The trade was a 0.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Sam Eaton sold 12,904 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.18, for a total value of $492,674.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 145,064 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,538,543.52. The trade was a 8.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,345 shares of company stock valued at $2,151,656 over the last quarter. 8.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YELP. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Yelp during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yelp by 307.4% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,096 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 827 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new position in Yelp in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Yelp in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in Yelp during the fourth quarter worth $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.11% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.