Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Given "Hold" Rating at TD Securities

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold" rating restated by equities research analysts at TD Securities in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $158.00 price objective on the restaurant operator's stock. TD Securities' target price points to a potential upside of 5.89% from the stock's current price.

YUM has been the subject of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $156.20.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.4 %

YUM traded up $0.61 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $149.21. 1,972,015 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,012,596. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $151.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $140.99. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.58, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.01. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 19.68%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total transaction of $94,964.79. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 64 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,180.48. This represents a 90.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the sale, the vice president now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,271 shares of company stock worth $8,706,576 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Bard Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $713,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 128.5% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 9,128 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,275,000 after acquiring an additional 5,134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 54.4% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 47,604 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $6,651,000 after acquiring an additional 16,767 shares during the period. 82.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.