Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Receives Equal Weight Rating from Morgan Stanley

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating reiterated by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley in a research note issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $140.00 target price on the restaurant operator's stock, down from their prior target price of $158.00. Morgan Stanley's price target indicates a potential upside of 11.43% from the company's previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on YUM. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Yum! Brands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Twelve investment 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 stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $145.47.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM stock traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $125.64. The stock had a trading volume of 2,092,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,968,513. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $133.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.63. Yum! Brands has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $143.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.48, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.11.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Yum! Brands will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total value of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,441,170 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,038,775,000 after acquiring an additional 111,147 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 3.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $419,123,000 after buying an additional 104,328 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Yum! Brands by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,632,862 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $228,127,000 after buying an additional 6,537 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,428,040 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $199,511,000 after buying an additional 51,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 835,800 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $116,770,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Company Profile

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.