Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Stock Price Down 5.6% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Yelp shares fell 5.6% to $23.31 in light trading, below both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $27.57; Morgan Stanley recently cut its target to $24 and maintained an underweight rating.
• Yelp’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $0.57 versus $0.36 expected and revenue of $375.5 million, up 1.4% year over year. Institutional investors own roughly 90% of the company, while insiders sold shares in the latest quarter.

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) dropped 5.6% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $23.36 and last traded at $23.31. 129,587 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 1,288,301 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.70.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on YELP shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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 raised Yelp from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Yelp in a research report on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Yelp from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $28.00 target price on shares of Yelp in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $27.57.

Yelp Trading Down 5.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.17, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business's 50-day moving average is $24.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.68.

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

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In other Yelp news, Director Christine Barone sold 15,507 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.95, for a total transaction of $355,885.65. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at $365,547.60. The trade was a 49.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 17,507 shares of company stock worth $402,481. Company insiders own 8.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Yelp in the first quarter valued at $14,796,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in shares of Yelp by 399.0% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 725,214 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $24,853,000 after buying an additional 579,894 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Yelp by 20.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,683,927 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $66,402,000 after buying an additional 457,261 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Yelp by 1,144.9% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 351,006 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $12,029,000 after buying an additional 322,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,682,238 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $81,513,000 after buying an additional 279,300 shares in the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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