Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Insider Craig Saldanha Sells 1,000 Shares of Stock

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.34, for a total transaction of $36,340.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 223,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,122,426.08. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Craig Saldanha also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, February 24th, Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of Yelp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $35,750.00.
• On Thursday, January 23rd, Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of Yelp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.40, for a total value of $38,400.00.

Yelp Price Performance

Shares of YELP opened at $37.50 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a PE ratio of 19.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.40. Yelp Inc. has a one year low of $32.56 and a one year high of $41.72.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The local business review company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yelp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Yelp by 375.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,331,835 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $51,542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051,588 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Yelp by 163.4% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 853,867 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $33,045,000 after buying an additional 529,667 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Yelp by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,845,575 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $71,424,000 after acquiring an additional 255,775 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Yelp by 70.7% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 601,632 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $23,283,000 after acquiring an additional 249,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Yelp by 87.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 507,990 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $19,659,000 after acquiring an additional 236,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Yelp from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.17.

About Yelp

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.