Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its stake in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Free Report) by 34.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,093 shares of the local business review company's stock after selling 14,749 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Yelp were worth $1,087,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 82.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 637 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Avion Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Yelp by 1,963.6% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 908 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 864 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Yelp by 76.5% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,094 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Yelp by 75.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,717 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Yelp by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 1,815 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Yelp from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Yelp from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $34.00.

Yelp Trading Up 8.6 %

Shares of NYSE:YELP traded up $3.06 on Friday, reaching $38.80. The company had a trading volume of 1,417,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 734,484. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.99. Yelp Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.29 and a 52-week high of $41.72. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $35.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.98.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The local business review company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.05. Yelp had a return on equity of 18.07% and a net margin of 9.41%. The company had revenue of $358.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.48 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.20 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Yelp news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $35,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 211,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,563,198.50. This represents a 0.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Sam Eaton sold 21,989 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total value of $785,007.30. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 153,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,467,776.30. This trade represents a 12.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 57,727 shares of company stock worth $2,025,717. 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.