Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Yelp Inc. $YELP

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. has decreased its stake in Yelp Inc. by 4.2% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 0.75% of the company, valued at about $18.2 million.
• Several other large investors, including Hancock Whitney Corp and Royal Bank of Canada, have increased their stakes in Yelp, reflecting ongoing interest from institutional investors.
• Yelp recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.67, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a 3.7% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 490,859 shares of the local business review company's stock after selling 21,402 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 0.75% of Yelp worth $18,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in YELP. State of Wyoming grew its stake in Yelp by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 9,030 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its stake in Yelp by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 6,986 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Yelp by 47.3% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,936 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 622 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Yelp by 57.7% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,725 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 631 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Holdings LLC grew its stake in Yelp by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 34,649 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $1,283,000 after acquiring an additional 698 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on YELP. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Yelp from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Yelp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $34.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Carmen Amara sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.33, for a total transaction of $48,495.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 85,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,766,348.78. The trade was a 1.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Dan Jedda sold 2,794 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.68, for a total transaction of $99,689.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $662,363.52. The trade was a 13.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,494 shares of company stock worth $1,305,389. 7.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yelp Trading Down 1.5%

YELP traded down $0.46 on Wednesday, hitting $31.24. 905,181 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 817,044. Yelp Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.96 and a fifty-two week high of $41.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $33.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.89. The stock has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.03.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The local business review company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $370.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $365.71 million. Yelp had a net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 20.17%. The company's revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. Yelp has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Yelp Company 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.