The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Positive Forecast for Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock Price

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 8.03% from the company’s previous close.

YUM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 target price (down from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.20.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM stock traded down $0.53 on Friday, reaching $143.48. 1,393,104 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,111,195. The stock has a market cap of $40.04 billion, a PE ratio of 26.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $144.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $132.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.72.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The company had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of YUM. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Yum! Brands by 957.1% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.