Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) Stake Cut by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans decreased its holdings in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 50,874 shares of the local business review company’s stock after selling 1,668 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Yelp were worth $1,969,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Yelp by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,553,227 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $89,567,000 after purchasing an additional 23,719 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Yelp by 3.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,759,229 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $61,724,000 after acquiring an additional 64,381 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position 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 worth $41,205,000 after acquiring an additional 56,618 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yelp by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 654,059 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $22,944,000 after acquiring an additional 78,585 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Yelp by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 543,698 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $19,073,000 after purchasing an additional 56,598 shares during the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yelp Trading Down 2.0 %

YELP stock opened at $37.22 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.82. The company has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.40. Yelp Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.56 and a 52 week high of $41.72.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last issued its quarterly 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 company 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 research analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.80, for a total transaction of $348,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 242,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,453,476.80. This trade represents a 3.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Carmen Amara sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total value of $49,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 107,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,554,984.12. This trade represents a 1.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 57,727 shares of company stock worth $2,081,667. 7.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Yelp 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.