Yelp Inc. $YELP Shares Bought by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Key Points

• Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in Yelp by 29.0%, purchasing 43,742 shares to hold 194,495 shares (about 0.32% of the company) valued at roughly $5.91 million.
• Yelp reported quarterly EPS of $0.61 (vs. $0.47 expected) on $359.99 million in revenue (down 0.5% year‑over‑year) and trades with a market capitalization near $1.71 billion and a P/E of 12.78.
• Analyst sentiment is weak—MarketBeat shows an average rating of Reduce with a $28.50 target after multiple downgrades—and insiders sold 156,264 shares (~$4.12 million) in the last quarter.

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) by 29.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 194,495 shares of the local business review company's stock after acquiring an additional 43,742 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.32% of Yelp worth $5,911,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Yelp by 157.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 252,564 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $9,352,000 after purchasing an additional 154,612 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Yelp by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 76,376 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $2,828,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 208,551 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $7,723,000 after buying an additional 5,210 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 39,377 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $1,458,000 after buying an additional 7,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Yelp during the first quarter worth approximately $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company's stock.

Yelp Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE YELP opened at $28.75 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.47. Yelp Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.60 and a twelve month high of $41.22. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.79.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The local business review company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.14. Yelp had a return on equity of 19.96% and a net margin of 9.94%.The firm had revenue of $359.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $358.70 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Yelp from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Yelp from $30.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Yelp from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Yelp from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $25.00 price target on shares of Yelp in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yelp presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $28.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In related news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.72, for a total transaction of $29,664.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 267,835 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,881.20. This represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dan Jedda sold 1,464 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.02, for a total transaction of $30,773.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,100 shares in the company, valued at $359,442. This represents a 7.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 156,264 shares of company stock valued at $4,115,893. Corporate 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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