David Schwarzbach Sells 8,809 Shares of Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Stock

Key Points

• Yelp CFO David Schwarzbach sold 8,809 shares for approximately $204,281 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards. He retained 180,466 shares afterward.
• Yelp shares rose 1.7% to $23.86, while the company’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations: EPS was $0.57 versus a $0.36 consensus estimate, and revenue increased 1.4% year over year to $375.52 million.
• Analysts maintain a generally cautious view, with an average “Reduce” rating and a $27.57 price target. Institutional investors own 90.11% of Yelp’s outstanding shares.

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) CFO David Schwarzbach sold 8,809 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.19, for a total value of $204,280.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 180,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,185,006.54. This trade represents a 4.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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.

Yelp Stock Up 1.7%

Yelp stock traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $23.86. 838,689 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,283,294. The company has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.45. Yelp Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.60 and a fifty-two week high of $34.49. The company's fifty day moving average price is $24.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The local business review company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.21. Yelp had a net margin of 8.59% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The company had revenue of $375.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $366.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YELP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Yelp from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 price objective on Yelp in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 15th. Evercore set a $30.00 target price on Yelp in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $27.57.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Yelp by 1,679.0% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,407,914 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $34,522,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328,772 shares during the period. OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Yelp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $14,796,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 399.0% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 725,214 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $24,853,000 after purchasing an additional 579,894 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,683,927 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $66,402,000 after purchasing an additional 457,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Yelp by 1,144.9% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 351,006 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $12,029,000 after purchasing an additional 322,810 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yelp Company Profile

Yelp is a digital platform that connects consumers with local businesses through user-generated reviews, ratings and multimedia content. The company's flagship offerings include the Yelp website and mobile applications for iOS and Android, where users can search for and discover restaurants, shops, service providers and other points of interest. In addition to crowd-sourced reviews and photographs, Yelp provides business profile pages featuring hours, contact information, menus and direct messaging capabilities.

Yelp generates revenue primarily through advertising services sold to small and medium-sized enterprises.

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