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

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $150.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 3.28% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Argus raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.95.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $155.09 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $141.01 and its 200 day moving average is $137.05. The firm has a market cap of $43.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $163.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,654 shares of company stock worth $7,659,176. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,664 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 15,357 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,060,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,605 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $886,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 3,231 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,575 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 75 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.