Insider Selling: Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) COO Sells 7,000 Shares of Stock

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $9,371,246.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Yelp Stock Performance

Shares of Yelp stock traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $33.47. 1,354,084 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 743,472. The firm has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 21.32 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $36.12 and its 200 day moving average is $38.49. Yelp Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.56 and a 1 year high of $48.99.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The local business review company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $357.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $352.98 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 15.69% and a net margin of 8.44%. Yelp’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. Research analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YELP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Yelp from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Craig Hallum reduced their target price on Yelp from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Yelp in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.00.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YELP. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Yelp during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Yelp by 262.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 664 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Yelp during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in Yelp in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in Yelp in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

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.