Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Receives Consensus Rating of "Reduce" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Wall Street sentiment is cautious: Yelp has a consensus rating of “Reduce” from eight analysts, with three sell ratings, four hold ratings, and one buy rating. The average 12-month price target is $27.88.
• Insiders have been selling shares: CFO David A. Schwarzbach and Director Dan Jedda both sold stock recently, and insiders sold 28,864 shares in the last quarter. Corporate insiders still own 8.3% of the company.
• Quarterly results beat expectations, but the stock is weak: Yelp reported $0.30 EPS on revenue of $361.46 million, both above estimates, though shares were down and opened at $21.83 amid a market cap of about $1.2 billion.

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" by the eight analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.8750.

YELP has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 price objective on Yelp in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Yelp in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Yelp from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 17th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 227,959 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,698,975. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Dan Jedda sold 1,464 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.02, for a total transaction of $30,773.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,100 shares in the company, valued at $359,442. The trade was a 7.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 28,864 shares of company stock worth $723,573. Corporate insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YELP. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Yelp by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 58,298 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $1,998,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yelp by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,204 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yelp by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC now owns 35,838 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $1,118,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Yelp by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 19,871 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Yelp by 100.0% during 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company's stock.

Yelp Stock Down 2.9%

Yelp stock opened at $21.83 on Friday. Yelp has a 52 week low of $19.60 and a 52 week high of $39.58. The stock has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.97, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.53. The company's 50-day moving average price is $25.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The local business review company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.04. Yelp had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 20.19%. The company had revenue of $361.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Yelp will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yelp Company Profile

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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