Headwater Capital Co Ltd Invests $4.56 Million in Yelp Inc. $YELP

Key Points

• Headwater Capital Co Ltd bought 150,000 shares of Yelp in the fourth quarter, a new stake valued at about $4.56 million. The position represents roughly 0.24% of Yelp and about 0.9% of Headwater’s portfolio.
• Yelp’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $0.30 versus the $0.26 estimate and revenue of $361.46 million versus the $353.47 million forecast. Revenue rose 0.8% year over year.
• Wall Street sentiment remains cautious, with an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $27.88. Several firms have recently trimmed targets or issued underweight/sell views, even as insiders and other hedge funds have been active in the stock.

Headwater Capital Co Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 150,000 shares of the local business review company's stock, valued at approximately $4,558,000. Yelp makes up approximately 0.9% of Headwater Capital Co Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Headwater Capital Co Ltd owned approximately 0.24% of Yelp as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in YELP. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Yelp by 157.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 252,564 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $9,352,000 after buying an additional 154,612 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Yelp by 0.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 76,376 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $2,828,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Yelp by 2.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 208,551 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $7,723,000 after buying an additional 5,210 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Yelp by 21.8% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 39,377 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $1,458,000 after buying an additional 7,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Yelp during the first quarter worth approximately $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company's stock.

Yelp Stock Performance

Yelp stock opened at $22.99 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $25.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. Yelp Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.60 and a 12 month high of $36.33.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The local business review company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $361.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $353.47 million. Yelp had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 20.19%. The firm's revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YELP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Yelp in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Yelp from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Evercore set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Yelp in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Yelp from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $27.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In other Yelp news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total value of $199,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 209,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,567,380. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Christine Barone sold 15,507 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.95, for a total value of $355,885.65. Following the completion of the sale, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 33,707 shares of company stock worth $819,145. 8.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yelp 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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