Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Stock Now Rated "Reduce" by Wall Street Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts collectively rate Yelp “Reduce”: Of seven brokerages, three recommend selling, three rate it a hold, and one gives a strong-buy rating. The average 12-month price target is $25.14.
• Morgan Stanley lowered its price target to $17 and JPMorgan cut its target to $18; both assigned Yelp an underweight rating. UBS and Goldman Sachs maintained neutral ratings, while Zacks upgraded the stock to strong buy.
• Yelp beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting EPS of $0.63 versus $0.43 forecast, but revenue fell 1.4% year over year to $370.92 million.

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $25.14.

YELP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Yelp from $24.00 to $17.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Yelp in a report on Friday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Yelp in a report on Friday, November 6th. Zacks Research raised Yelp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Yelp from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yelp news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 8,809 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.19, for a total transaction of $204,280.71. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 180,466 shares in the company, valued at $4,185,006.54. The trade was a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CTO Alexander Coleman Levy sold 3,829 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.40, for a total value of $89,598.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 54,124 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,266,501.60. The trade was a 6.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,638 shares of company stock worth $614,249. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YELP. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 10.8% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 439,498 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $8,131,000 after acquiring an additional 42,676 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP increased its position in shares of Yelp by 141.8% during the third quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 119,553 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $2,212,000 after acquiring an additional 70,111 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Yelp by 22.1% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 249,793 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $4,621,000 after acquiring an additional 45,236 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yelp during the third quarter worth about $111,000. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Yelp by 18.8% in the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 181,872 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $3,365,000 after acquiring an additional 28,764 shares in the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yelp Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE YELP opened at $20.32 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 9.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.43. Yelp has a 12 month low of $17.26 and a 12 month high of $31.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.31.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The local business review company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.20. Yelp had a net margin of 8.29% and a return on equity of 19.26%. The business had revenue of $370.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $368.66 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Yelp will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

About Yelp

Yelp is a technology company that helps people discover and connect with local businesses. Its platform lets users search for businesses, read and write reviews, view photos and access details such as locations, hours and services. Listings span categories including restaurants, home services, automotive businesses and health and wellness providers. For businesses, Yelp offers tools to manage profile pages, respond to customer reviews and communicate with prospective customers. Its products also include advertising and features for handling customer inquiries, reservations and waitlists.

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