Analysts Set Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Target Price at $145.00

Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $144.75.

YUM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,025.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total value of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total transaction of $1,285,799.97. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,419,025.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,064 shares of company stock worth $3,228,698. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Alta Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the first quarter worth about $206,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 30,121 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,176,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 56.0% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 218,236 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,258,000 after acquiring an additional 78,340 shares during the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 6.6% in the first quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 128,480 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,814,000 after acquiring an additional 7,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 36.1% in the first quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,008 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,081,000 after acquiring an additional 3,980 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $141.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $39.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $137.83 and its 200 day moving average is $130.69. Yum! Brands has a one year low of $115.53 and a one year high of $143.24.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 22.57%. The company’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 5.73 EPS for the current year.

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.