Analysts Set Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) PT at $151.60

Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-two analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $152.24.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, March 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the business’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 owns 160,296 shares in the company, valued at $25,560,800.16. The trade was a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $418,692,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 14,795.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 769,805 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $121,137,000 after acquiring an additional 764,637 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,545,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $475,714,000 after purchasing an additional 601,361 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $252,272,000 after purchasing an additional 452,339 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $59,289,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $145.74 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $151.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.94. Yum! Brands has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30. The company has a market capitalization of $40.68 billion, a PE ratio of 27.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

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.