Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target Raised to $150.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its target price increased by Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $150.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.95.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM stock opened at $155.09 on Thursday. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $141.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.71, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This represents a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $4,880,113.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,296 shares in the company, valued at $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,654 shares of company stock worth $7,659,176. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $315,996,000 after buying an additional 94,026 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 15.5% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,805,000 after acquiring an additional 17,133 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $252,272,000 after purchasing an additional 452,339 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,825,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DJE Kapital AG purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,306,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products.