Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Boosts Stake in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) by 272.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,595 shares of the local business review company's stock after buying an additional 41,400 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned about 0.09% of Yelp worth $2,160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Yelp by 445.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,061 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 173,175 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $6,702,000 after buying an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Yelp during the fourth quarter valued at about $704,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Yelp in the fourth quarter worth about $3,189,000. Finally, Aurora Investment Counsel purchased a new stake in shares of Yelp in the fourth quarter worth about $2,511,000. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.68, for a total transaction of $356,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 209,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,480,454.72. This trade represents a 4.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dan Jedda sold 2,794 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.68, for a total value of $99,689.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,564 shares in the company, valued at $662,363.52. This represents a 13.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,345 shares of company stock valued at $2,147,176 in the last 90 days. 8.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on YELP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Yelp from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Yelp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Yelp from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $34.00.

Yelp Stock Down 2.8%

NYSE YELP traded down $0.97 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $34.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 562,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 766,817. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $36.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.82. Yelp Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.29 and a 1 year high of $41.72. The company has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.41, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.98.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The local business review company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $358.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $353.48 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 19.42% and a net margin of 9.95%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.20 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.