Cohen Klingenstein LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Cohen Klingenstein LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 144,870 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 7,200 shares during the period. Yum! Brands makes up 0.7% of Cohen Klingenstein LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Cohen Klingenstein LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $19,436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in YUM. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 71,638 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $9,489,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.3% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 256,459 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,971,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 930,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $123,243,000 after acquiring an additional 58,437 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter worth approximately $241,000. Finally, Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 3.4% in the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 9,998 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total value of $959,600.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,307,396.90. The trade was a 4.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of YUM opened at $125.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50-day moving average is $134.08 and its 200-day moving average is $133.63. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 50.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

YUM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Argus upgraded Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Loop Capital reduced their target price 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.24.

Yum! Brands 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.