Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Position Increased by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) by 169.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,662 shares of the local business review company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,471 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Yelp were worth $617,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Wyoming lifted its position in Yelp by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 9,030 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Yelp by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,767 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P lifted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 60,697 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $2,349,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Yelp by 47.3% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,936 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 622 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Yelp by 57.7% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,725 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on YELP. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Yelp from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Yelp from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Yelp from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $34.00.

Yelp Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YELP traded up $0.31 during trading on Thursday, hitting $34.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,657,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 667,187. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.97. Yelp Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.28 and a fifty-two week high of $41.72. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $35.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.15.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The local business review company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.19. Yelp had a return on equity of 19.42% and a net margin of 9.95%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In other Yelp news, Director Dan Jedda sold 2,794 shares of the 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 transaction, the director directly owned 18,564 shares in the company, valued at $662,363.52. This represents a 13.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Sam Eaton sold 12,904 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.18, for a total transaction of $492,674.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 145,064 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,538,543.52. The trade was a 8.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,345 shares of company stock valued at $2,151,656 over the last ninety days. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.