Invesco Ltd. Sells 53,338 Shares of Yelp Inc. $YELP

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in Yelp Inc. by 16.2% in the first quarter, selling 53,338 shares and now holding about 276,551 shares valued at approximately $10.24 million.
• Several institutional investors increased their holdings in Yelp, with Signaturefd LLC boosting its stake by 47.3% and Fifth Third Bancorp by 57.7% during the same period.
• Yelp's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $0.67, exceeding estimates and marking a 3.7% revenue increase year-over-year, despite a downgrade to a "buy" rating from several brokerages.

Invesco Ltd. cut its stake in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) by 16.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 276,551 shares of the local business review company's stock after selling 53,338 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.43% of Yelp worth $10,241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new position in shares of Yelp in the first quarter worth $52,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in Yelp during the fourth quarter worth $63,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Yelp by 57.7% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,725 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Yelp by 47.3% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,936 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 622 shares during the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yelp Stock Up 1.0%

YELP stock traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $31.61. 891,719 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,052,095. Yelp Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.96 and a 52 week high of $41.72. The business has a 50-day moving average of $33.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Insider Activity at Yelp

In related news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.33, for a total value of $32,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 204,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,624,417. This trade represents a 0.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dan Jedda sold 2,794 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.68, for a total transaction of $99,689.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,564 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $662,363.52. The trade was a 13.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,755 shares of company stock worth $1,285,051 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 8.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.