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 research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on YUM. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.79.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.2 %

YUM stock opened at $157.85 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $143.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $137.67. Yum! Brands has a 1-year low of $122.13 and a 1-year high of $163.30. The firm has a market cap of $44.06 billion, a PE ratio of 30.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total value of $1,367,913.68. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 2,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,329.20. The trade was a 74.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total transaction of $816,392.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at $24,353,416.32. This trade represents a 3.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,132 shares of company stock valued at $7,952,685. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 94,026 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,805,000 after acquiring an additional 17,133 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 31.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 452,339 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 110,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $14,825,000 after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares during the period. Finally, DJE Kapital AG bought a new stake in Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $3,306,000. 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.