Royce & Associates LP Raises Position in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 12.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 53,450 shares of the local business review company’s stock after buying an additional 6,035 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Yelp were worth $2,069,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Yelp by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,743,899 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $96,256,000 after acquiring an additional 48,363 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Yelp by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,553,227 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $89,567,000 after purchasing an additional 23,719 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Yelp by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,759,229 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $61,724,000 after purchasing an additional 64,381 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Yelp by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,174,607 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $41,205,000 after purchasing an additional 56,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Yelp by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 654,059 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $22,944,000 after buying an additional 78,585 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of YELP stock opened at $35.43 on Friday. Yelp Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.56 and a 12-month high of $41.72. The company has a 50 day moving average of $37.53 and a 200-day moving average of $36.66. The firm has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.45, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.40.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued 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. Yelp had a return on equity of 18.07% and a net margin of 9.41%. The firm had revenue of $361.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $350.73 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Yelp

In related news, insider Carmen Amara sold 11,238 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 9.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.99, for a total value of $37,990.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 183,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,973,368.42. This represents a 0.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 57,727 shares of company stock worth $2,083,317. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on 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 issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.