Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 13,993 Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 6.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 239,640 shares of the local business review company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,993 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Yelp were worth $8,407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in YELP. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,743,899 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $96,256,000 after purchasing an additional 48,363 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Yelp by 2.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,693,819 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $62,587,000 after buying an additional 33,046 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Yelp by 5.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,174,607 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $41,205,000 after buying an additional 56,618 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Yelp by 0.8% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 586,820 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $21,683,000 after buying an additional 4,547 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Yelp by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 567,567 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $20,972,000 after acquiring an additional 6,682 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yelp

In other news, insider Carmen Amara sold 12,854 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.17, for a total transaction of $490,637.18. Following the sale, the insider now owns 88,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,389,992.21. The trade was a 12.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.02, for a total transaction of $238,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 255,558 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,083.16. This represents a 2.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 30,598 shares of company stock valued at $1,106,106. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America started coverage on Yelp in a research report on Monday, September 16th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Yelp to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Yelp from $38.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Yelp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.00.

Yelp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YELP opened at $37.26 on Wednesday. Yelp Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.56 and a 1 year high of $48.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50-day moving average is $34.89 and its 200 day moving average is $35.41.

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.