Raymond James & Associates Lowers Stock Holdings in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Raymond James & Associates decreased its position in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 19.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,249 shares of the local business review company’s stock after selling 19,268 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Yelp were worth $2,885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Yelp during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Yelp by 262.8% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 664 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Yelp during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Yelp by 115.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 976 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Yelp by 54.5% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,148 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YELP opened at $34.35 on Tuesday. Yelp Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.56 and a 1 year high of $48.99. The company has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 18.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $34.21 and its 200 day moving average is $35.85.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The local business review company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.27. Yelp had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 10.01%. The company had revenue of $357.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.21 EPS. Yelp’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 1.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YELP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on Yelp in a report on Monday, September 16th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Yelp from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Yelp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $38.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Yelp in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.33.

Insider Activity at Yelp

In other Yelp news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,776 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $377,160.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 145,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,080,985. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Yelp news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,776 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $377,160.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 145,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,080,985. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.02, for a total value of $238,140.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 255,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,083.16. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.