Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Purchases Shares of 36,587 Yelp Inc. $YELP

Key Points

• Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. has acquired a new stake in Yelp Inc., purchasing 36,587 shares valued at approximately $1,355,000, representing about 0.06% of the company's stock.
• Yelp's recent earnings report revealed an EPS of $0.67 for the quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.48, with revenue reaching $370.39 million.
• Analysts have downgraded Yelp's stock rating, with Bank of America lowering its target price from $31.00 to $30.00, and the company currently holds a consensus rating of "Reduce" with an average target price of $34.00.

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 36,587 shares of the local business review company's stock, valued at approximately $1,355,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. owned 0.06% of Yelp at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YELP. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Yelp by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 752,742 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $29,131,000 after purchasing an additional 57,610 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Yelp by 375.2% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,331,835 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $51,542,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051,588 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Yelp by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 27,660 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $1,070,000 after acquiring an additional 2,630 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in Yelp in the fourth quarter valued at $229,000. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Yelp by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 60,306 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $2,334,000 after acquiring an additional 3,810 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total value of $314,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 180,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,663,560.28. The trade was a 5.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,766,348.78. The trade was a 1.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 38,494 shares of company stock worth $1,305,389. Company insiders own 8.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America reduced their target price on Yelp from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Yelp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yelp currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $34.00.

Yelp Stock Performance

NYSE:YELP traded down $0.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $31.02. 245,695 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 815,054. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $33.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.84. Yelp Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.96 and a 1 year high of $41.72. The company has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of 14.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.03.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Yelp had a net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 20.17%. The firm had revenue of $370.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.71 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Yelp has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yelp 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.