Fiduciary Group LLC Makes New Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Fiduciary Group LLC bought a new stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,544 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bfsg LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $143.18 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.53 and a 52-week high of $143.24. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $138.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $131.20. The company has a market capitalization of $40.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.57% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The business’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. Analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

YUM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised Yum! Brands from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $154.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total transaction of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,419,025.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total value of $963,514.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 175,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,910,900.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total transaction of $1,285,799.97. Following the transaction, the vice president now 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 three months, insiders have sold 24,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,228,698. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.