Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target Raised to $151.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price target raised by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $147.00 to $151.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 1.20% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also commented on YUM. 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 research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, 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 research report on Friday, February 7th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $156.20.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $149.21 on Thursday. Yum! Brands has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.30. The firm has a market cap of $41.55 billion, a PE ratio of 28.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $151.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.99.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.01. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 19.68% and a negative return on equity of 20.33%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 160,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,271 shares of company stock worth $8,706,576 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by 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.