Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Key Points

• Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. significantly increased its stake in Yelp Inc. by 1,620.5%, now owning 204,587 shares valued at $7.58 million.
• Several hedge funds have also boosted their holdings in Yelp, with notable increases from Farther Finance Advisors LLC (307.4%) and Fifth Third Bancorp (57.7%).
• Yelp's stock currently holds an average rating of "Hold" with an average target price of $34.00, as analysts have mixed views following recent price target adjustments.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) by 1,620.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 204,587 shares of the local business review company's stock after purchasing an additional 192,696 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.31% of Yelp worth $7,576,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Yelp by 93.3% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 12,743 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $493,000 after acquiring an additional 6,150 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Yelp by 70.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 601,632 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $23,283,000 after acquiring an additional 249,231 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Yelp in the fourth quarter valued at $7,455,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Yelp by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 257,649 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $9,971,000 after acquiring an additional 47,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,774,878 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $68,702,000 after buying an additional 15,649 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In other Yelp news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 12,904 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.18, for a total value of $492,674.72. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 145,064 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,538,543.52. This trade represents a 8.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.68, for a total transaction of $346,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 199,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,924,000.72. This trade represents a 4.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 58,345 shares of company stock valued at $2,151,656. Insiders own 8.00% of the company's stock.

Yelp Price Performance

Shares of YELP traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $34.46. 1,010,847 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 788,079. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.97. Yelp Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.28 and a fifty-two week high of $41.72. The business has a 50-day moving average of $35.18 and a 200-day moving average of $36.20.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The local business review company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.05. Yelp had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 19.42%. The company had revenue of $358.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.48 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.20 EPS. Yelp's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on YELP shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Yelp from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Yelp from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Yelp from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $34.00.

About Yelp

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.