Toroso Investments LLC Trims Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Toroso Investments LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM – Get Rating) by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,476 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 3,917 shares during the quarter. Toroso Investments LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,603,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 396.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 288 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 668.4% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 292 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. TD Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $54,000. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 4,259 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.52, for a total value of $547,366.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 31,715 shares in the company, valued at $4,076,011.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 3,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $510,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 14,393 shares in the company, valued at $1,871,090. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 4,259 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.52, for a total value of $547,366.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 31,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,076,011.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on YUM shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $155.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 14th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 9th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $142.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.81.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

NYSE YUM opened at $128.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $35.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.98. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $103.96 and a one year high of $133.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $128.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.60.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 8th. The restaurant operator reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 19.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.02 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 22nd were given a $0.605 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 21st. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.07%.

Yum! Brands Profile

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Yum! Brands, Inc operates as a service restaurant company. The firm engages in the development, operation, franchise, and licenses of a system of restaurants. It operates through the following segments: KFC Division, Pizza Hut Division, Taco Bell Division, and Habit Burger Grill Division. The KFC Division segment consists of all operations of the KFC concept.