Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on YELP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Yelp from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Yelp from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yelp presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $34.00.

Yelp Price Performance

Shares of Yelp stock traded up $0.18 during trading on Friday, hitting $36.98. The stock had a trading volume of 840,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 743,959. The stock has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 19.26, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.02. Yelp has a 12 month low of $32.29 and a 12 month high of $41.72. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $36.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.38.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The local business review company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $358.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $353.48 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 18.07% and a net margin of 9.41%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.20 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Yelp will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Yelp

In other news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.34, for a total transaction of $36,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 223,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,122,426.08. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.31, for a total value of $343,100.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 239,112 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,203,932.72. This trade represents a 4.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,551 shares of company stock worth $1,692,686. 8.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in YELP. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Yelp by 82.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 637 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Avion Wealth lifted its stake in Yelp by 1,963.6% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 908 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Yelp by 307.4% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,096 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 827 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new position in shares of Yelp in the first quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Yelp during the first quarter worth $56,000. 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.

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