Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Given New $135.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price objective increased by BMO Capital Markets from $133.00 to $135.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

YUM has been the topic of several other reports. Oppenheimer raised shares of Yum! Brands from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $154.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 5th. Argus reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Yum! Brands from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $144.31.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.5 %

YUM stock traded down $0.73 during trading on Thursday, reaching $134.34. The stock had a trading volume of 2,452,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,162,501. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $138.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.42. The company has a market capitalization of $37.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.82, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands has a 1-year low of $115.53 and a 1-year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.06 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 5.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total value of $963,514.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 175,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,910,900.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total transaction of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,419,025.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total transaction of $963,514.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 175,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,910,900.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,698. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of YUM. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.5% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 103,701 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $12,956,000 after purchasing an additional 4,497 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 6.2% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 31,939 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,990,000 after purchasing an additional 1,864 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 11.1% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 175,231 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $21,893,000 after purchasing an additional 17,470 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 96.7% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 11,432 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,428,000 after buying an additional 5,621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 8,649 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,081,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. 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.