Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Buys 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. purchased a new stake in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 36,587 shares of the local business review company's stock, valued at approximately $1,355,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. owned about 0.06% of Yelp as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Yelp by 0.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its position in Yelp by 7.4% in the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 6,986 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its position in Yelp by 14.0% in the first quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 115,953 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $4,294,000 after purchasing an additional 14,222 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Yelp by 83.4% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,670 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Yelp by 19.8% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,176 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on YELP shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Yelp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Yelp from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $34.00.

Yelp Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of YELP traded down $0.46 on Wednesday, hitting $31.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 905,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 817,044. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $33.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.89. Yelp Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.96 and a fifty-two week high of $41.72. The firm has a market capitalization 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The local business review company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.19. Yelp had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 10.28%.The business had revenue of $370.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $365.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. Yelp's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Yelp has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.