Robert W. Baird Lowers Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Price Target to $174.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) had its price objective reduced by Robert W. Baird from $176.00 to $174.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the restaurant operator's stock.

YUM has been the subject of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Yum! Brands from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $152.24.

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Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.4 %

YUM stock traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $144.97. The company had a trading volume of 3,002,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,017,028. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $152.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.46 billion, a PE ratio of 27.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90. Yum! Brands has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. This is a boost from Yum! Brands's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is 54.41%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 8,638 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.36, for a total transaction of $1,367,913.68. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 2,970 shares in the company, valued at $470,329.20. The trade was a 74.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,897,573.60. This trade represents a 29.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,132 shares of company stock worth $7,952,685 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of YUM. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,664 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A lifted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 15,357 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,060,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,605 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $886,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 3,231 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 3,614 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $569,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

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.