NewEdge Advisors LLC Sells 1,709 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

NewEdge Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 10.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,167 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,709 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $1,898,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 466.5% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,867,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $774,951,000 after purchasing an additional 4,831,505 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,857,247 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $749,541,000 after acquiring an additional 73,735 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 19.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,507,237 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $652,773,000 after acquiring an additional 901,181 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.2% during the first quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 4,967,397 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $656,094,000 after acquiring an additional 60,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.6% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,365,517 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $517,792,000 after acquiring an additional 67,468 shares in the last quarter. 80.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on YUM. StockNews.com began coverage on Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on Yum! Brands from $179.00 to $173.00 in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Bank of America upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.27, for a total transaction of $686,350.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 16,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,203,458.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.27, for a total value of $686,350.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 16,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,203,458.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.81, for a total value of $520,096.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,325 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,727,983.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,951 shares of company stock valued at $2,444,113 over the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Yum! Brands Trading Down 0.7 %

Yum! Brands stock opened at $128.68 on Wednesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $103.96 and a 12 month high of $143.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $133.80 and its 200-day moving average is $133.28. The company has a market capitalization of $36.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.01.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The restaurant operator reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 16.16% and a net margin of 20.31%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $0.605 per share. This represents a $2.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 28th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.99%.

Yum! Brands Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through four segments: the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division. It 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.