Analysts Set Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Price Target at $150.95

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $150.95.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on YUM. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Argus raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.0 %

YUM stock opened at $157.13 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $142.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.39. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The firm has a market cap of $43.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total transaction of $816,392.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,353,416.32. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685 over the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,664 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 15,357 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,060,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in Yum! Brands by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,605 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $886,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 3,231 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,575 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

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.