Piper Sandler Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its target price raised by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from $140.00 to $150.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 5.14% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. 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. Barclays increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 target price (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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, Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.70.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.5 %

Yum! Brands stock opened at $158.13 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total transaction of $4,880,113.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 160,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. This represents a 16.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685 over the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of YUM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth approximately $418,692,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,545,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $475,714,000 after purchasing an additional 601,361 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $252,272,000 after purchasing an additional 452,339 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $59,289,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $43,944,000. 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.