Yelp Inc. $YELP Shares Sold by Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital cut its Yelp stake by 88.3% in the first quarter, selling 1.6 million shares and retaining 212,983 shares worth approximately $5.3 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 90.11% of Yelp.
• Yelp exceeded first-quarter expectations, reporting $0.30 in adjusted earnings per share versus a $0.26 consensus estimate and revenue of $361.46 million, up 0.8% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with a consensus “Reduce” rating and an average price target of $27.88. Recent targets range from $24 at Morgan Stanley to $30 at Evercore, while insiders have sold roughly $402,000 of stock over the past three months.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership decreased its holdings in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) by 88.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 212,983 shares of the local business review company's stock after selling 1,601,140 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.36% of Yelp worth $5,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Headwater Capital Co Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Yelp in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,558,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 858.9% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 44,476 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $1,352,000 after purchasing an additional 39,838 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 251,569 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $7,633,000 after purchasing an additional 39,585 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Yelp by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,682,238 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $81,513,000 after purchasing an additional 279,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Yelp by 56.7% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 653,818 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $19,870,000 after purchasing an additional 236,568 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company's stock.

Yelp Stock Performance

Yelp stock opened at $26.48 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.93. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. Yelp Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.60 and a 1-year high of $35.26.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The local business review company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $361.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.47 million. Yelp had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 20.19%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Christine Barone sold 15,507 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.95, for a total value of $355,885.65. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $365,547.60. The trade was a 49.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,507 shares of company stock worth $402,481. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on YELP. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 price target on shares of Yelp in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Zacks Research upgraded Yelp from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Evercore set a $30.00 price target on shares of Yelp in a research report on Monday, May 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $27.88.

Yelp 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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