Morgan Stanley Raises Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target to $150.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its target price hoisted by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $150.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential downside of 2.79% from the company’s previous close.

YUM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.95.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of YUM stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $154.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 393,328 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,230,887. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.07 billion, a PE ratio of 29.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $140.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.79. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $4,880,113.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 160,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,654 shares of company stock valued at $7,659,176 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of YUM. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 6.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 16,032 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,240,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,226 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,010,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 41.9% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,653 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 784 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 worth $96,348,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966 shares during the period. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 38.6% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,544 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

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.