Social News: Facebook Inc (FB)’s Momentum, LinkedIn Corp (LNKD)’s Positive Rating & Yelp Inc (YELP)’s Tool

Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD), Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Facebook, Should You Buy or Sell Right Now? (Nasdaq)
Momentum is a powerful thing. You either have it, or you don’t. This is what drives many of the highflying stocks, momentum. A clear example of a stock that has gone through a roller coaster is Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB). When the stock first came out last summer, there was so much hype that it drove shares massively higher on the first day. Then the optimism swung to massive pessimism, and the shares essentially collapsed over the subsequent four months, hitting a low of $17.55 in September 2012. At that point, all of the fast money was out of the stock, leaving longer-term investors the opportunity to accumulate shares. One thing you have to remember when it comes to investing, know who the shareholders are.

Facebook Inc (FB), JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU)

LinkedIn Corp. Rating Reiterated by Needham & Company (LNKD) (DailyPolitical)
LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD)‘s stock had its “positive” rating reiterated by research analysts at Needham & Company in a report released on Wednesday, ARN reports. They currently have a $280.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company’s target price indicates a potential upside of 18.68% from the company’s current price. LNKD has been the subject of a number of other recent research reports. Analysts at TheStreet reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) in a research note to investors on Monday. Finally, analysts at Northland Securities raised their price target on shares of LinkedIn Corp. from $178.00 to $218.00 in a research note to investors on Thursday, August 15th.

Short Interest Declines 10.7% For YELP (Forbes)
The most recent short interest data has been released by the NASDAQ for the 08/15/2013 settlement date, which shows a 713,906 share decrease in total short interest for Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP), to 5,947,651, a decrease of 10.72% since 07/31/2013. Total short interest is just one way to look at short data; another metric that we here at Dividend Channel find particularly useful is the “days to cover” metric because it considers both the total shares short and the average daily volume of shares traded.

Facebook leads Google in U.S. government data requests (BizJournals)
The U.S. government has requested more data from Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) than any other foreign government for the first half of 2013, submitting 11,000 requests affecting an estimated 20,000 accounts, the Silicon Valley Business Journal reports. Facebook released the new data in a report Tuesday, which indicated that the social networking company is now a government avenue of choice for retrieving online user data. The more than 11,000 requests for Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) data from January to June 2013 is an uptick from the last six months of 2012 and also looks to be outpacing Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG).

DT Daily Facebook News Feed demystified, streaming video felony, and NASA’s Mars machine (YouTube)

The Story Of How A Facebook Millionaire Got Hired One Strange Night Should Inspire Startup Workers Everywhere (BusinessInsider)
Bearded, friendly foodie Ezra “Fuzz” Callahan joined Facebook in 2004, right when the company was starting. He stayed for six years. During that time Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) grew to become a company worth many billions of dollars. Because of that, Callahan’s net worth grew to many millions of dollars. When he married another Facebook employee in 2012, Modern Luxury covered the ceremony.

Yelp ‘Revenue Estimator’ now available outside of the US (FoodBev)
Reviews and recommendations platform Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) has launched a new tool for business owners that estimates revenue generated directly from their Yelp business page. The free ‘Revenue Estimator’ feature allows business owners to see how reviews, photos, check-ins and tips customers write about their business can translate into sales. The UK Revenue Estimator uses statistics based on a survey of 1,000 UK businesses, which revealed the average spend per customer directed from Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP), broken down into different business sectors. Business owners can also manually input this figure if they feel their business is not representative of the national average.

LinkedIn Corp. Hits New 52-Week High at $247.98 (LNKD) (WatchListNews)
Shares of LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) hit a new 52-week high during trading hours on Monday, AR Network reports. The company traded as high as $247.98 and last traded at $245.22, with a volume of 1,608,258 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $240.37. Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Analysts at TheStreet reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of LinkedIn Corp. in a research note to investors on Monday. Finally, analysts at Northland Securities raised their price target on shares of LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) from $178.00 to $218.00 in a research note to investors on Thursday, August 15th.