Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target Raised to $165.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its target price raised by Barclays from $162.00 to $165.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price target (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $147.37.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of YUM stock opened at $143.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $40.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $144.71. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.88.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total transaction of $959,600.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,307,396.90. This represents a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of YUM. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,582 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,822,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 62,915 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,441,000 after purchasing an additional 7,116 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 205,502 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $27,570,000 after purchasing an additional 49,000 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 7,180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $963,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 11,380 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,527,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in 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.