Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) shares reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $32.56 and last traded at $33.06, with a volume of 148781 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.84.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Yelp from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.17.

Yelp Trading Down 0.2 %

The company has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $36.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.92.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The local business review company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $361.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $350.73 million. Yelp had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 18.07%. Analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Carmen Amara sold 1,500 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total transaction of $49,740.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 107,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,554,984.12. This trade represents a 1.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.34, for a total transaction of $36,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 223,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,122,426.08. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 57,727 shares of company stock worth $2,081,667. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Unique Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yelp during the first quarter worth $224,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Yelp by 78.3% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,585 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Yelp by 2,600.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,362 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $1,717,000 after purchasing an additional 44,645 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Yelp in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,368,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yelp during the fourth quarter worth about $240,000. Institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

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.