Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 2,100 Shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 31.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,500 shares of the local business review company’s stock after selling 2,100 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Yelp were worth $166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Yelp by 132.7% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 27,094 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 15,451 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Yelp in the first quarter worth $594,000. CastleKnight Management LP grew its holdings in Yelp by 126.7% in the fourth quarter. CastleKnight Management LP now owns 68,925 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $3,263,000 after purchasing an additional 38,525 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in Yelp by 7.6% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 61,150 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $2,409,000 after purchasing an additional 4,306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceera Investments LLC grew its holdings in Yelp by 13.6% in the second quarter. Ceera Investments LLC now owns 173,597 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $6,414,000 after purchasing an additional 20,780 shares during the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on YELP shares. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Yelp in a report on Monday. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Yelp in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Yelp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Yelp from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $377,160.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 145,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,080,985. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Yelp news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 10,776 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $377,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 145,171 shares in the company, valued at $5,080,985. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.25, for a total value of $232,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 281,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,371,246.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,776 shares of company stock valued at $863,590 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Yelp Stock Up 1.3 %

Yelp stock opened at $33.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56 and a beta of 1.33. Yelp Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.56 and a 52 week high of $48.99. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $34.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.00.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The local business review company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $357.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.98 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 10.01%. Yelp’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.21 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

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.