Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock Price

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $150.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the restaurant operator's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target suggests a potential downside of 2.79% from the company's previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Argus raised Yum! Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $150.95.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:YUM traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $154.31. The company had a trading volume of 393,328 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,230,887. Yum! Brands has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.30. The company has a market cap of $43.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average of $140.18 and a 200 day moving average of $136.79.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total transaction of $94,964.79. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 64 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,180.48. This represents a 90.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 11,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Insiders have sold 48,654 shares of company stock worth $7,659,176 over the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Yum! Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 436.5% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. 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.

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