Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Earns Underperform Rating from Analysts at Bank of America

Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Yelp (NYSE:YELP) in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued an underperform rating and a $30.00 price objective on the local business review company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Yelp from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Yelp in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a peer perform rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Yelp from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Yelp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yelp has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $37.20.

Yelp Trading Up 0.8 %

Yelp stock opened at $34.40 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.05 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50-day moving average of $34.85 and a 200-day moving average of $36.95. Yelp has a 1 year low of $32.56 and a 1 year high of $48.99.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The local business review company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $357.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.98 million. Yelp had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.21 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Yelp will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Yelp news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.25, for a total transaction of $232,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 281,842 shares in the company, valued at $9,371,246.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.25, for a total value of $232,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 281,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,371,246.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,776 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $377,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 145,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,080,985. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,776 shares of company stock valued at $863,590 over the last ninety days. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yelp by 4.3% during the second 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Yelp by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,994,129 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $94,402,000 after buying an additional 13,790 shares in the last quarter. Goodnow Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Yelp by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Goodnow Investment Group LLC now owns 641,660 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $30,376,000 after acquiring an additional 7,940 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Yelp by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 586,820 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $21,683,000 after acquiring an additional 4,547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Yelp by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 567,567 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $20,972,000 after acquiring an additional 6,682 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

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.