We'd be surprised if Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) shareholders haven't noticed that the Chief People Officer, Carmen Amara, recently sold US$491k worth of stock at US$38.17 per share. Equally important, that sale actually reduced their holding by a full 88% which hardly makes us feel bullish about the stock.

Check out our latest analysis for Yelp

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Yelp

In fact, the recent sale by Chief People Officer Carmen Amara was not their only sale of Yelp shares this year. They previously made an even bigger sale of -US$569k worth of shares at a price of US$38.00 per share. So we know that an insider sold shares at around the present share price of US$35.84. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. Given that the sale took place at around current prices, it makes us a little cautious but is hardly a major concern.

Yelp insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

I will like Yelp better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It appears that Yelp insiders own 2.2% of the company, worth about US$52m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Yelp Insiders?

Insiders sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. But it is good to see that Yelp is growing earnings. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. While conducting our analysis, we found that Yelp has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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