Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Position Reduced by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC cut its holdings in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) by 19.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 128,515 shares of the local business review company's stock after selling 31,848 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.20% of Yelp worth $4,973,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of YELP. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 1,815 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Yelp by 82.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 637 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Yelp by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,767 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P increased its position in shares of Yelp by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 60,697 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $2,349,000 after buying an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Yelp by 76.5% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,094 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Yelp from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Yelp from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $36.33.

Yelp Stock Performance

Shares of YELP stock traded up $0.15 on Friday, hitting $35.31. The stock had a trading volume of 65,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 736,635. The stock's 50 day moving average is $35.03 and its 200-day moving average is $36.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.08. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The local business review company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.09. Yelp had a return on equity of 18.07% and a net margin of 9.41%. The company had revenue of $361.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $350.73 million. Equities analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yelp news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.80, for a total transaction of $348,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 242,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,453,476.80. The trade was a 3.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Sam Eaton sold 21,989 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total value of $785,007.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly 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. Insiders have sold a total of 57,727 shares of company stock worth $2,025,717 over the last quarter. 7.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.