Yelp Inc. $YELP Shares Acquired by Clark Capital Management Group Inc.

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its stake in Yelp Inc. by 14% in the first quarter, owning 115,953 shares valued at approximately $4.3 million as of the last filing.
• Yelp reported an EPS of $0.67 in its latest quarterly earnings, exceeding analysts' estimates, and had a revenue of $370.39 million, up 3.7% year-over-year.
• Insiders sold 38,494 shares of Yelp stock in the last three months, highlighting a trend of decreased ownership among company insiders.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) by 14.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 115,953 shares of the local business review company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,222 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. owned about 0.18% of Yelp worth $4,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LSV Asset Management grew its position in Yelp by 122.8% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,902,318 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $70,443,000 after buying an additional 1,048,451 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yelp by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,403,461 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $51,981,000 after acquiring an additional 71,626 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Yelp by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 752,742 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $29,131,000 after acquiring an additional 57,610 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Yelp by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 650,433 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $25,172,000 after purchasing an additional 9,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in Yelp by 2.6% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 555,797 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $20,581,000 after purchasing an additional 13,943 shares during the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America lowered their target price on Yelp from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Yelp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $34.00.

Yelp Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of YELP traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $31.97. The company had a trading volume of 657,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 866,946. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 14.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.03. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $33.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.94. Yelp Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.96 and a 1-year high of $41.72.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The local business review company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $370.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $365.71 million. Yelp had a net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 20.17%. Yelp's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. Yelp has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In other Yelp news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.17, for a total transaction of $37,404.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 203,700 shares in the company, valued at $6,349,329. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dan Jedda sold 2,794 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.68, for a total value of $99,689.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,564 shares in the company, valued at $662,363.52. This trade 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 have sold 38,494 shares of company stock worth $1,305,389. Insiders own 7.40% of the company's stock.

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.