Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target Raised to $148.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price objective boosted by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $130.00 to $148.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target points to a potential downside of 3.84% from the company’s previous close.

YUM has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. TD Securities lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective (down from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $148.32.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $153.91 on Friday. Yum! Brands has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $155.18. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.47. The company has a market cap of $42.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.49, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.5% during 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. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth $1,262,000. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 5,600 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.1% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 689,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $96,348,000 after buying an additional 20,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Infusive Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Infusive Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,419 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,066,000 after acquiring an additional 5,684 shares during the period. 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.