Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Reduces Stock Position in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its position in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,299 shares of the local business review company’s stock after selling 3,384 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.05% of Yelp worth $1,289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 82.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 637 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Avion Wealth boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 1,963.6% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 908 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 76.5% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,094 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Yelp during the 3rd quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yelp Stock Performance

NYSE:YELP opened at $34.27 on Friday. Yelp Inc. has a one year low of $32.56 and a one year high of $41.72. The firm has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.65.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The local business review company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $361.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $350.73 million. On average, research analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Yelp from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Yelp to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Yelp from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.99, for a total transaction of $37,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 183,558 shares in the company, valued at $6,973,368.42. The trade was a 0.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.72, for a total transaction of $397,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 201,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,022,963.36. This trade represents a 4.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,256 shares of company stock worth $2,047,609 in the last 90 days. 7.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yelp 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.