Money Concepts Capital Corp Makes New $1.68 Million Investment in Yelp Inc. $YELP

Key Points

• Money Concepts Capital Corp disclosed a new first-quarter stake in Yelp, buying 68,080 shares worth about $1.68 million. The position represented roughly 0.11% of Yelp’s stock.
• Yelp reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, posting EPS of $0.30 versus the $0.26 estimate, and revenue of $361.46 million versus expectations of $353.47 million. Revenue rose 0.8% year over year.
• Despite the earnings beat, sentiment remains mixed: analysts’ consensus rating is “Reduce”, while insiders have been selling shares. Yelp stock was recently up about 1.1% to $25.84.

Money Concepts Capital Corp bought a new stake in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 68,080 shares of the local business review company's stock, valued at approximately $1,684,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp owned 0.11% of Yelp as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of YELP. Headwater Capital Co Ltd acquired a new stake in Yelp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,558,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Yelp during the fourth quarter worth $3,348,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 858.9% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 44,476 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $1,352,000 after buying an additional 39,838 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Yelp by 56.7% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 653,818 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $19,870,000 after buying an additional 236,568 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its holdings in shares of Yelp by 18.7% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 39,585 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company's stock.

Yelp Stock Up 1.1%

YELP traded up $0.29 on Friday, hitting $25.84. 683,856 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,293,340. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $24.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Yelp Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.60 and a twelve month high of $35.39. The company has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.46.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The local business review company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $361.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.47 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 20.19% and a net margin of 9.47%.Yelp's revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict 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 research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 15th. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 price target on shares of Yelp in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Yelp in a research note on Monday, May 11th. 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 report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Yelp from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yelp has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus 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 $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Christine Barone sold 15,507 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.95, for a total value of $355,885.65. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at $365,547.60. This trade represents a 49.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 25,007 shares of company stock worth $601,981 in the last three months. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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