Empowered Funds LLC Grows Holdings in Yelp Inc. $YELP

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC increased its Yelp stake by 192.8% in the first quarter, owning 367,028 shares valued at approximately $9.08 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 90.11% of Yelp’s outstanding stock.
• Yelp reported quarterly EPS of $0.57, beating estimates of $0.36, while revenue reached $375.52 million and rose 1.4% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Yelp has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $27.57, compared with shares trading near $24.64.

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) by 192.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 367,028 shares of the local business review company's stock after acquiring an additional 241,656 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.67% of Yelp worth $9,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headwater Capital Co Ltd bought a new position in Yelp in the 4th quarter worth $4,558,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its holdings in Yelp by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 251,569 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $7,633,000 after acquiring an additional 39,585 shares during the period. Money Concepts Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Yelp in the first quarter valued at about $1,684,000. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Yelp by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,682,238 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $81,513,000 after acquiring an additional 279,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 194,495 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $5,911,000 after acquiring an additional 43,742 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.11% of the company's stock.

Yelp Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of YELP opened at $24.64 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.46. The company's fifty day moving average is $24.98 and its 200 day moving average is $24.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.75. Yelp Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.60 and a fifty-two week high of $34.49.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The local business review company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $375.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $366.89 million. Yelp had a net margin of 8.59% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The business's revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yelp news, Director Christine Barone sold 15,507 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.95, for a total transaction of $355,885.65. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,928 shares in the company, valued at $365,547.60. The trade was a 49.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 17,507 shares of company stock worth $402,481 over the last ninety days. 8.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 target price on Yelp in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Yelp in a report on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Yelp from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $27.57.

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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