Wall Street Zen Upgrades Yelp (NYSE:YELP) to "Strong-Buy"

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock 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 target on Yelp from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Yelp from $35.00 to $30.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $34.00.

Yelp Price Performance

YELP stock traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $34.45. 709,478 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 769,604. Yelp has a 52 week low of $32.29 and a 52 week high of $41.72. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $36.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of 16.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.98.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The local business review company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.05. Yelp had a return on equity of 19.42% and a net margin of 9.95%. The business had revenue of $358.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $353.48 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.20 EPS. Yelp's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Yelp will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In other news, Director Dan Jedda sold 2,794 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.68, for a total transaction of $99,689.92. Following the sale, the director owned 18,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $662,363.52. This trade represents a 13.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Sam Eaton sold 12,904 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.18, for a total value of $492,674.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 145,064 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,538,543.52. This represents a 8.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 58,345 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,876. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YELP. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Yelp by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 26,776 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $918,000 after buying an additional 706 shares during the period. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yelp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $271,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in shares of Yelp by 4.3% in the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 38,033 shares of the local business review company's stock worth $1,302,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its stake in Yelp by 90.5% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 138,318 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $4,740,000 after purchasing an additional 65,704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Yelp by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 75,892 shares of the local business review company's stock valued at $2,601,000 after acquiring an additional 9,062 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.