Robert W. Baird Has Lowered Expectations for Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Stock Price

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its price target dropped by stock analysts at Robert W. Baird from $176.00 to $174.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price indicates a potential upside of 17.95% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on YUM. Argus upgraded Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.60.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $147.52 on Monday. Yum! Brands has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $150.15 and its 200 day moving average is $139.52. The company has a market cap of $41.17 billion, a PE ratio of 28.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.90.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total value of $94,964.79. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 64 shares in the company, valued at $10,180.48. This trade represents a 90.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.24, for a total value of $816,392.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,353,416.32. This trade represents a 3.24 % 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 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 436.5% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.