Alexander Coleman Levy Sells 3,829 Shares of Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Stock

Key Points

• Yelp CTO Alexander Coleman Levy sold 3,829 shares for approximately $89,599, reducing his holdings by 6.61% to 54,124 shares. The sale occurred under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan to cover tax withholding from vested equity awards.
• Yelp shares rose 1.7% to $23.86, while the company’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations with EPS of $0.57 versus a $0.36 estimate and revenue of $375.52 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Yelp has an average “Reduce” rating and a consensus price target of $27.57, while institutional investors own 90.11% of the company.

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) CTO Alexander Coleman Levy sold 3,829 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.40, for a total value of $89,598.60. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 54,124 shares in the company, valued at $1,266,501.60. This represents a 6.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Yelp Stock Up 1.7%

NYSE YELP traded up $0.40 during trading on Monday, reaching $23.86. 883,669 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,283,573. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Yelp Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.60 and a fifty-two week high of $34.49. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $24.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.45.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The local business review company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $375.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $366.89 million. Yelp had a net margin of 8.59% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The firm's revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 1.84 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on YELP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Evercore set a $30.00 target price on Yelp in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Zacks Research upgraded Yelp from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Yelp in a report on Friday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $27.57.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of YELP. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Yelp by 100.0% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Yelp by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,159 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Yelp by 71.3% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,158 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 181.3% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,297 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Yelp during the 1st quarter worth about $56,000. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company's stock.

About Yelp

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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