Insider Selling: Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Insider Sells $848,151.00 in Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) insider Scott Catlett sold 5,994 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.50, for a total transaction of $848,151.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 34,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,936,793.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Yum! Brands stock opened at $139.15 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $138.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.21. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.53 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.67, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.07.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.05). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.92% and a negative return on equity of 18.64%. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.06 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 24th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 47.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 79.8% in the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 165.7% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.53.

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.