Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target Raised to $155.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price objective upped by The Goldman Sachs Group from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on YUM. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Securities lifted their target price on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Argus raised Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $147.37.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $143.49 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $132.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.88. Yum! Brands has a twelve month low of $122.13 and a twelve month high of $144.71. The firm has a market cap of $40.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.49, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was 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 approximately $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,582 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,822,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 62,915 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,441,000 after buying an additional 7,116 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 205,502 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $27,570,000 after buying an additional 49,000 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 7,180 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $963,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 11,380 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.