Aurora Investment Counsel Invests $2.51 Million in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Aurora Investment Counsel acquired a new position in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 64,892 shares of the local business review company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,511,000. Yelp comprises approximately 1.4% of Aurora Investment Counsel’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Aurora Investment Counsel owned about 0.10% of Yelp at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 82.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 637 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth raised its holdings in Yelp by 1,963.6% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 908 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 864 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Yelp by 16.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In related news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.72, for a total value of $397,200.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 201,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,022,963.36. This trade represents a 4.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Carmen Amara sold 11,238 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $393,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 108,123 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,784,305. This represents a 9.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,480,517 in the last 90 days. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yelp Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of YELP stock opened at $34.06 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of 17.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.66. Yelp Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.56 and a 12 month high of $41.72.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Yelp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.17.

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.