Yelp Inc. $YELP Position Lifted by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 52,872.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,362 shares of the local business review company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,333 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Yelp were worth $526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new position in Yelp during the 1st quarter valued at $52,000. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Yelp during the 1st quarter valued at $56,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in Yelp during the 1st quarter valued at $62,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Yelp by 47.3% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,936 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Yelp by 83.4% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,670 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214 shares during the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on YELP. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $33.00 price target on shares of Yelp in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Yelp from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Yelp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $45.00 price target on shares of Yelp and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yelp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.00.

Yelp Trading Down 1.6%

YELP stock opened at $32.47 on Wednesday. Yelp Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.96 and a 52 week high of $41.72. The company has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $31.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.08.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The local business review company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.19. Yelp had a net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 20.17%. The company had revenue of $370.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. Yelp’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Yelp has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In other news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total value of $37,116.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 202,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,263,325. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Carmen Amara sold 1,500 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total transaction of $49,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 82,566 shares in the company, valued at $2,727,980.64. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 37,900 shares of company stock valued at $1,214,460 in the last quarter. Insiders own 7.40% 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.