Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Insider Sells $36,340.00 in Stock

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was 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 directly owns 223,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,122,426.08. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Craig Saldanha also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, February 24th, Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of Yelp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $35,750.00.
• On Thursday, January 23rd, Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of Yelp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.40, for a total transaction of $38,400.00.

Yelp Stock Up 1.8 %

YELP opened at $37.50 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a PE ratio of 19.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.75. Yelp Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.56 and a 52 week high of $41.72.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The local business review company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.09. Yelp had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 18.07%. The company had revenue of $361.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $350.73 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Yelp from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.17.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Yelp by 375.2% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,331,835 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $51,542,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051,588 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in Yelp by 163.4% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 853,867 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $33,045,000 after purchasing an additional 529,667 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Yelp by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,845,575 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $71,424,000 after purchasing an additional 255,775 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Yelp by 70.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 601,632 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $23,283,000 after buying an additional 249,231 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Yelp by 87.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 507,990 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $19,659,000 after purchasing an additional 236,400 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yelp Company Profile

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.