Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Price Target Lowered to $39.00 at Robert W. Baird

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) had its target price decreased by investment analysts at Robert W. Baird from $44.00 to $39.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the local business review company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target would indicate a potential downside of 1.56% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on YELP. Raymond James assumed coverage on Yelp in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.44.

Yelp Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of YELP stock opened at $39.62 on Friday. Yelp has a twelve month low of $27.91 and a twelve month high of $48.99. The stock has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.35 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.40 and a 200 day moving average of $42.34.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The local business review company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.16. Yelp had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The firm had revenue of $332.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $333.66 million. On average, research analysts predict that Yelp will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Yelp

In related news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 2,750 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.63, for a total transaction of $111,732.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 258,848 shares in the company, valued at $10,516,994.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.83, for a total transaction of $232,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 312,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,134,452.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 2,750 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.63, for a total transaction of $111,732.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 258,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,516,994.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of YELP. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yelp in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in Yelp during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Yelp during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 4,634.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,231 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yelp by 65.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,250 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

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.