JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trims Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Target Price to $132.00

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) had its target price dropped by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $134.00 to $132.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the restaurant operator’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price indicates a potential downside of 1.74% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.31.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock traded down $0.73 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $134.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,421,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,007,162. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $138.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $131.42. Yum! Brands has a twelve month low of $115.53 and a twelve month high of $143.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.82, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.07.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.64% and a net margin of 22.92%. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands will post 5.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at $2,419,025.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,078 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.37, for a total transaction of $979,382.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 172,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,817,351.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total value of $1,285,799.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,419,025.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,698. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,405,452 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,058,156,000 after buying an additional 373,232 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,650,728 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,914,257,000 after acquiring an additional 678,659 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,766,650 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $720,485,000 after acquiring an additional 210,238 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,278,341 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $409,596,000 after acquiring an additional 124,080 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at about $331,831,000. Hedge funds and other 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.