Wall Street Zen Downgrades Yelp (NYSE:YELP) to Hold

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on YELP. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Yelp in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Yelp from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Yelp in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yelp has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $34.60.

Yelp Stock Performance

Yelp stock traded down $3.23 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $28.91. The company had a trading volume of 1,969,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 825,167. The firm has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $31.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.99. Yelp has a 1 year low of $28.70 and a 1 year high of $41.72.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The local business review company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $376.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $368.39 million. Yelp had a net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 20.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. Yelp has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Yelp will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.98, for a total transaction of $39,576.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 201,300 shares in the company, valued at $6,638,874. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Carmen Amara sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.04, for a total transaction of $49,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 82,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,727,980.64. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,100 shares of company stock worth $1,254,036. Corporate insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yelp by 2.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 374,536 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $13,869,000 after purchasing an additional 8,239 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Yelp during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,945,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 169.1% in the 1st quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,662 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $617,000 after acquiring an additional 10,471 shares during the last quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Yelp by 30.4% in the first quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 40,325 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $1,493,000 after acquiring an additional 9,393 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Yelp in the first quarter worth $657,000. 90.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.