US Bancorp DE Cuts Stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

US Bancorp DE cut its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 4.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 114,810 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 5,175 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $15,907,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 39,704 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,244,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 466.5% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,867,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $774,951,000 after buying an additional 4,831,505 shares during the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 68.7% in the first quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,421 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its position in Yum! Brands by 3.8% during the second quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 13,572 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,880,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in Yum! Brands by 34.6% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 110,261 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $15,277,000 after purchasing an additional 28,336 shares during the last quarter. 80.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark James King sold 9,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 8,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,039,386. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Mark James King sold 9,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,360.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 8,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,039,386. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,727 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.97, for a total transaction of $476,944.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,335,880.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,638 shares of company stock valued at $2,603,751 in the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $127.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $35.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $123.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.46. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.53 and a fifty-two week high of $143.24.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 1st. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.32% and a negative return on equity of 17.45%. The business’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.605 per share. This represents a $2.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on YUM shares. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $153.00 to $152.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 8th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $151.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, October 19th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Redburn Atlantic reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, October 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.21.

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.