Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target Cut to $163.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price target trimmed by Barclays from $165.00 to $163.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on YUM. UBS Group lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $152.62.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE:YUM opened at $145.09 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.49 billion, a PE ratio of 27.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total transaction of $1,367,913.68. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at $470,329.20. This trade represents a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,139 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.70, for a total value of $753,891.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,162,903.10. This represents a 3.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,271 shares of company stock worth $8,706,576. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $418,692,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 14,795.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 769,805 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $121,137,000 after acquiring an additional 764,637 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,545,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $475,714,000 after purchasing an additional 601,361 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,289,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by 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.