Vestcor Inc Purchases 9,221 Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc increased its stake in Yelp Inc. by 178.4%, owning a total of 14,391 shares worth approximately $533,000 after purchasing 9,221 additional shares.
• Several hedge funds, including Farther Finance Advisors LLC and Fifth Third Bancorp, also raised their stakes in Yelp during the first quarter, reflecting growing institutional interest.
• Yelp's stock recently traded at $33.84, with analysts giving it an average rating of "Hold" and a price target of $34.00, despite some firms lowering their price objectives.

Vestcor Inc raised its stake in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) by 178.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,391 shares of the local business review company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,221 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Yelp were worth $533,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in YELP. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Yelp by 307.4% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,096 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new position in Yelp in the first quarter valued at approximately $52,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in Yelp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake 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 valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Yelp by 47.3% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,936 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 622 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Yelp Stock Performance

YELP stock traded up $0.80 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $33.84. 741,818 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 663,969. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $35.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.23. Yelp Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.28 and a 52 week high of $41.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a PE ratio of 16.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.97.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The local business review company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $358.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $353.48 million. Yelp had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 19.42%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In other news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 12,904 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.18, for a total value of $492,674.72. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 145,064 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,538,543.52. This represents a 8.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total transaction of $35,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 212,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,494,125.60. The trade was a 0.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 58,345 shares of company stock valued at $2,151,656. Corporate insiders own 7.40% 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.