Trexquant Investment LP Trims Stake in Yelp Inc. $YELP

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP sold 152,296 shares of Yelp Inc., reducing its stake by 95.7%, leaving it with only 6,861 shares valued at $254,000.
• Several institutional investors have either increased or reduced their holdings in Yelp, with OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increasing its stake by 47.0% to 47,630 shares worth $1.76 million.
• Yelp's most recent quarterly earnings reported an EPS of $0.67, surpassing consensus estimates, with revenues of $370.39 million compared to expectations of $365.71 million.

Trexquant Investment LP reduced its stake in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) by 95.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,861 shares of the local business review company's stock after selling 152,296 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP's holdings in Yelp were worth $254,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of YELP. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yelp by 307.4% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,096 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 827 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new stake in shares of Yelp during the first quarter valued at approximately $52,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new stake in Yelp in the fourth quarter worth $63,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in Yelp in the first quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Yelp by 57.7% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,725 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Yelp Trading Down 2.5%

YELP stock traded down $0.80 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $30.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 820,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 802,517. The company has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.03. Yelp Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.96 and a 12 month high of $41.72. The firm's 50-day moving average is $32.91 and its 200-day moving average is $34.82.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yelp news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.43, for a total transaction of $314,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 180,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,663,560.28. The trade was a 5.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dan Jedda sold 2,794 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.68, for a total transaction of $99,689.92. Following the sale, the director owned 18,564 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $662,363.52. This represents a 13.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,494 shares of company stock valued at $1,305,389. Insiders own 8.00% of the company's stock.

Yelp Company 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.