Brokerages Set Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Price Target at $34.00

Key Points

• Yelp Inc. has received an average consensus recommendation of "Reduce", with two analysts giving it a sell rating and four a hold rating.
• The average 1-year target price for Yelp's stock among analysts is $34.00, slightly lower than current levels.
• Insider sales indicate a decrease in ownership, with directors selling a total of 58,345 shares worth approximately $2.15 million over the last quarter.

Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the six analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $34.00.

YELP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Yelp from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Yelp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th.

Yelp Trading Up 4.0%

Yelp stock traded up $1.2370 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $32.4570. The company had a trading volume of 1,160,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,021,783. Yelp has a fifty-two week low of $29.96 and a fifty-two week high of $41.72. The company has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.43.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The local business review company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $370.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $365.71 million. Yelp had a net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 20.17%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. Yelp has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts forecast that Yelp will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.68, for a total transaction of $346,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 199,654 shares in the company, valued at $6,924,000.72. This represents a 4.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total transaction of $35,230.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 212,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,494,125.60. This trade represents a 0.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,141 shares of company stock valued at $1,534,902. 7.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Yelp by 2.2% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 374,536 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $13,869,000 after acquiring an additional 8,239 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Yelp by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 752,742 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $29,131,000 after acquiring an additional 57,610 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Yelp during the first quarter worth $2,766,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Yelp by 169.1% during the first quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,662 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $617,000 after acquiring an additional 10,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Yelp by 272.5% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 56,595 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $2,160,000 after acquiring an additional 41,400 shares in the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.