Vetr downgraded shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $70.45 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

YUM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Credit Suisse reissued an underperform rating and issued a $86.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Friday, October 9th. Jefferies Group reissued a hold rating and issued a $71.00 price target (down from $80.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Oppenheimer reissued an outperform rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, January 4th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $82.00 to $73.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank reissued a hold rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, December 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $82.91.

Shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) opened at 73.10 on Monday. Yum! Brands has a 12-month low of $66.35 and a 12-month high of $95.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.52 billion and a P/E ratio of 34.93. The company has a 50-day moving average of $71.07 and a 200-day moving average of $76.22.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 5th. Investors of record on Friday, January 15th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 13th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.52%.

In related news, CEO Jingshyh S. Su sold 41,313 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total value of $2,998,497.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 102,076 shares in the company, valued at $7,408,676.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. First Financial Bank increased its position in Yum! Brands by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Bank now owns 5,584 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Edge Wealth Management increased its position in Yum! Brands by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Edge Wealth Management now owns 93,406 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,877,000 after buying an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. IMS Capital Management increased its position in Yum! Brands by 58.8% in the fourth quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 27,474 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,007,000 after buying an additional 10,168 shares in the last quarter. EisnerAmper Wealth Management increased its position in Yum! Brands by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. EisnerAmper Wealth Management now owns 5,335 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Searle & Company increased its position in Yum! Brands by 27.4% in the fourth quarter. Searle & Company now owns 34,666 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,503,000 after buying an additional 7,466 shares in the last quarter.

YUM! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) is engaged in restaurant business. YUM develops, operates, franchises and licenses a system of both traditional and non-traditional Quick Service Restaurants (QSR), which prepare, package and sell a menu of food items. YUM operates in five segments: YUM China, which includes all operations in mainland China; YUM India, which includes all operations in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka; The KFC Division, which includes all operations of the KFC concept outside of China Division and India Division; The Pizza Hut Division, which includes all operations of the Pizza Hut concept outside of China Division and India Division; and the Taco Bell Division , which includes all operations of the Taco Bell concept outside of India Division. Its three Concepts focus on the chicken, pizza and Mexican-style food categories. The Company operates approximately 41,000 restaurants in approximately 125 countries and territories.

12 Month Chart for NYSE:YUM

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