Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Has $19.87 Million Stock Holdings in Yelp Inc. $YELP

Key Points

• Robeco Institutional Asset Management increased its stake in Yelp by 56.7% in Q4 to 653,818 shares (1.06% of the company) worth $19.87 million, and institutional investors now own about 90.11% of Yelp.
• Yelp beat Q4 EPS estimates ($0.61 vs. $0.47) with revenue roughly flat year-over-year (down 0.5%), but several major analysts have cut price targets and the stock carries a consensus rating of "Reduce" with an average target of $28.50.
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently—238,764 shares sold in the last 90 days (about $6.48 million)—leaving insiders with roughly 7.40% ownership.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) by 56.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 653,818 shares of the local business review company's stock after buying an additional 236,568 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. owned 1.06% of Yelp worth $19,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in YELP. Optimus Prime Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Yelp by 553.8% in the 3rd quarter. Optimus Prime Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 850,000 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $26,520,000 after purchasing an additional 720,000 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in Yelp by 399.0% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 725,214 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $24,853,000 after acquiring an additional 579,894 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Yelp by 1,144.9% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 351,006 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $12,029,000 after acquiring an additional 322,810 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,402,938 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $74,972,000 after purchasing an additional 309,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 49.3% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 823,050 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $25,679,000 after purchasing an additional 271,838 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company's stock.

Yelp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YELP opened at $26.20 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.47. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $23.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.99. Yelp Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.60 and a fifty-two week high of $41.22.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The local business review company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $359.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $358.70 million. Yelp had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 19.96%. Yelp's revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Yelp from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Yelp from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird set a $25.00 target price on shares of Yelp in a research note on Friday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Yelp from $30.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Yelp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $28.50.

Insider Activity

In other Yelp news, CEO Jeremy Stoppelman sold 6,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.20, for a total transaction of $150,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 964,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,348,813.40. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Dan Jedda sold 1,464 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.02, for a total transaction of $30,773.28. Following the sale, the director owned 17,100 shares in the company, valued at $359,442. This trade represents a 7.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 238,764 shares of company stock valued at $6,475,093. Insiders own 7.40% of the company's stock.

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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