Capital Research Global Investors Sells 518,389 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Capital Research Global Investors cut its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 36.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 920,963 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 518,389 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors’ holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $127,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 79.8% during the first quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 165.7% during the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the first quarter valued at $28,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total value of $912,030.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 162,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,275,158.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 6,961 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.02, for a total transaction of $912,030.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 162,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,275,158.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,061 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.43, for a total value of $963,332.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 165,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,596,900.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,398 shares of company stock worth $4,552,727. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.7 %

YUM traded up $0.92 on Friday, hitting $128.05. 1,874,400 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,996,463. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $133.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.85. The firm has a market cap of $36.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.07. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $115.53 and a one year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.92% and a negative return on equity of 18.64%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the restaurant operator to buy up to 5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

YUM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $166.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Yum! Brands in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.00.

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.