KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases Shares of 38,600 Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 38,600 shares of the local business review company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS owned approximately 0.06% of Yelp at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Yelp by 82.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 637 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 1,963.6% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 908 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,094 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yelp by 75.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,717 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in Yelp by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 1,815 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Yelp

In other Yelp news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 21,989 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total value of $785,007.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 153,159 shares in the company, valued at $5,467,776.30. This trade represents a 12.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.51, for a total value of $395,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 191,988 shares in the company, valued at $7,585,445.88. This trade represents a 4.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,727 shares of company stock worth $2,081,667 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Yelp Trading Down 2.0 %

Yelp stock opened at $37.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.40. Yelp Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.56 and a 1-year high of $41.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $37.26 and a 200-day moving average of $36.79.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The local business review company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.09. Yelp had a return on equity of 18.07% and a net margin of 9.41%. The business had revenue of $361.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $350.73 million. Research analysts forecast that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.