JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target to $160.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its target price boosted by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $138.00 to $160.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 1.44% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on YUM. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.79.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of YUM stock traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $157.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 236,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,874,811. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $142.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.53. The company has a market capitalization of $44.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.27, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 160,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,560,800.16. This trade represents a 16.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,355,367 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $315,996,000 after buying an additional 94,026 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,805,000 after purchasing an additional 17,133 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,379 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $252,272,000 after purchasing an additional 452,339 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,825,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares during the period. Finally, DJE Kapital AG bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,306,000. 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.