Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Given New $160.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its target price boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $138.00 to $160.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.79.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM opened at $157.85 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $143.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $137.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.24, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is 54.41%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,560,800.16. This represents a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,664 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 15,357 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,060,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,605 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $886,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Investment Partners LTD. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 3,231 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,575 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 75 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.