Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Short Interest Update

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,030,000 shares, a decrease of 14.8% from the February 13th total of 4,730,000 shares. Currently, 6.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 718,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.6 days.

Yelp Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE YELP opened at $35.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.67. Yelp has a 12-month low of $32.56 and a 12-month high of $41.72.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The local business review company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.09. The business 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Yelp will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Yelp

In other news, insider Carmen Amara sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total value of $49,740.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 107,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,554,984.12. This represents a 1.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.99, for a total value of $37,990.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 183,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,973,368.42. The trade was a 0.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 57,727 shares of company stock worth $2,083,317. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 82.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 637 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 1,963.6% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 908 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,094 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yelp in the 4th quarter worth $63,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Yelp by 75.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,717 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.