Alberta Investment Management Corp Increases Position in Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)

Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its position in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) by 116.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,400 shares of the local business review company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,200 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Yelp were worth $1,022,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Yelp by 82.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 637 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth increased its stake in 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 during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Yelp by 98.5% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 76.5% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,094 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Yelp in the third quarter worth approximately $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Yelp

In related news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,000 shares of Yelp stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.99, for a total transaction of $37,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 183,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,973,368.42. This trade represents a 0.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO David A. Schwarzbach sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.29, for a total transaction of $382,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 211,988 shares in the company, valued at $8,117,020.52. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,267 shares of company stock worth $1,299,802 over the last ninety days. 7.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Yelp to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Yelp from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Yelp from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Yelp from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Yelp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.17.

Yelp Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of YELP opened at $35.70 on Friday. Yelp Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.56 and a 1-year high of $41.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.33.

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

About Yelp

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.