These Institutional Investors Might Be Happy With Yelp's 4.1% Gain On Friday After A Poor 2014

Yelp Inc.’s YELPstock is up about 4.1 percent on Friday following an upgrade by analysts at Bank of America and CNBC's Jim Cramer endorsement on TV.

The stock lost almost 17 percent over 2014, but is up approximately 2.8 percent year-to-date. It currently trades around $56.05

In this article, we will look into some of the main institutional investors in the company (as of the end of the third quarter of 2014), to find out who is likely smiling with Friday’s upsurge.

Hedge Funds

Tybourne Capital Management, managed by Eashwar Krishnan, is amongst the largest institutional investors in Yelp. After getting rid of 999,019 shares over the third quarter –when the stock traded above $66, the fund disclosed ownership of 1.43 million shares, worth almost $100 million.

Assuming that Tybourne’s stake remained unchanged since the latest SEC 13F filing, it gained more than $3.1 million in value on Friday.

Also betting on the company is Donald Chiboucis’ Columbus Circle Investors, which last acknowledged holding 1.26 million shares, which might have returned $2.77 million on Friday.

Other Institutions

Wellington Management Co. was the largest institutional investor of record in Yelp, as of September 30, 2014. The investment management firm declared the purchase of more than 5 million shares of the company over the third quarter of 2014, taking its position to over 8 million shares, worth more than half a billion by the time of the filing.

The value of this stake –in unchanged over the past months- dropped considerably since that moment, but rose almost 18 million on Friday.