Morgan Stanley Lowers Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Price Target to $24.00

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley cut Yelp’s price target from $28 to $24 and kept an underweight rating, implying limited upside from the stock’s previous close.
• Yelp reported Q1 earnings above expectations, with EPS of $0.30 versus $0.26 expected and revenue of $361.46 million versus $353.47 million projected.
• The stock was down 7.8% to $21.09, while analyst sentiment remains cautious overall with a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $27.88.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $28.00 to $24.00 in a research report issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has an "underweight" rating on the local business review company's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price would suggest a potential upside of 13.82% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on YELP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Yelp from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Evercore set a $30.00 price target on shares of Yelp in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Yelp from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Yelp in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $27.88.

Yelp Trading Down 7.8%

Shares of YELP stock opened at $21.09 on Friday. Yelp has a 12-month low of $19.60 and a 12-month high of $41.22. The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 9.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $25.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.26. The company has a quick ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $361.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $353.47 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 20.19% and a net margin of 9.47%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Yelp will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Yelp

In other Yelp news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 227,959 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,698,975. This trade represents a 4.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.72, for a total transaction of $29,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 267,835 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,620,881.20. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 28,864 shares of company stock valued at $723,573 over the last quarter. 8.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bfsg LLC lifted its stake in Yelp by 110.3% during the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 839 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Yelp by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 892 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Yelp by 71.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Yelp by 70.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.