The Goldman Sachs Group Downgrades Yelp (NYSE:YELP) to Neutral

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) was downgraded by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Briefing.com reports. They presently have a $38.00 target price on the local business review company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $46.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 10.92% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Yelp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Yelp in a research note on Monday, September 16th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Yelp in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Yelp from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.33.

Yelp Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of YELP stock opened at $34.26 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.33. Yelp has a fifty-two week low of $32.56 and a fifty-two week high of $48.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $34.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.47.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The local business review company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $357.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $352.98 million. Yelp had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Yelp’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.21 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Yelp will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Yelp

In other Yelp news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.02, for a total transaction of $238,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 255,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,083.16. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.02, for a total transaction of $238,140.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 255,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,083.16. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,776 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $377,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 145,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,080,985. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,776 shares of company stock worth $848,050 in the last three months. 7.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of YELP. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Yelp by 1,089.2% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 188,371 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $6,960,000 after buying an additional 172,531 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Yelp by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,695,536 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $99,600,000 after purchasing an additional 111,936 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Yelp by 159.4% during the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 169,786 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $6,274,000 after purchasing an additional 104,330 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Yelp during the first quarter valued at about $3,861,000. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its position in Yelp by 39.2% during the second quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 308,459 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $11,398,000 after buying an additional 86,836 shares in the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.