Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Yelp shares gapped up at the open after closing at $24.81 and opening at $25.94, though the stock later traded lower around $24.16. The move came amid modest trading volume.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mixed: analysts include one Buy, four Hold, and three Sell ratings, with a consensus target of $27.88. Recent calls ranged from Weiss Ratings’ sell to targets from Baird and Evercore at $28 and $30, respectively.
• Yelp’s latest earnings beat estimates, with EPS of $0.30 versus $0.26 expected and revenue of $361.46 million slightly above forecasts. The company also remains financially stable, with a low debt-to-equity ratio and strong institutional ownership at 90.11%.

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $24.81, but opened at $25.94. Yelp shares last traded at $24.1580, with a volume of 164,842 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on YELP. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Yelp in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Yelp in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Evercore set a $30.00 target price on shares of Yelp in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Yelp from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yelp currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $27.88.

Yelp Stock Down 0.9%

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $23.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.46.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The local business review company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.04. Yelp had a return on equity of 20.19% and a net margin of 9.47%.The firm had revenue of $361.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $353.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. Yelp's revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In related news, Director Christine Barone sold 15,507 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.95, for a total value of $355,885.65. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $365,547.60. The trade was a 49.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 17,507 shares of company stock worth $402,481 over the last three months. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of YELP. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake 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. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Yelp by 181.3% in 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 in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company's stock.

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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