Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Shares Purchased by CX Institutional

CX Institutional boosted its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 43.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,529 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 761 shares during the period. CX Institutional’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $419,123,000 after buying an additional 104,328 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,645,000. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 127,446 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $17,805,000 after buying an additional 17,133 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,262,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 689,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $96,348,000 after buying an additional 20,966 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total transaction of $959,600.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 149,385 shares in the company, valued at $20,307,396.90. The trade was a 4.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $128.31 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $35.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $143.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $132.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.56.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Argus raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $154.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.89.

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.