Cetera Trust Company N.A Makes New $158,000 Investment in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,206 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $158,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, DB Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total value of $963,514.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 175,377 shares in the company, valued at $23,910,900.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.34, for a total value of $963,514.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 175,377 shares in the company, valued at $23,910,900.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David Eric Russell sold 9,919 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.63, for a total transaction of $1,285,799.97. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,419,025.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,064 shares of company stock worth $3,228,698. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:YUM opened at $139.06 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.53 and a 12 month high of $143.24. The firm has a market cap of $39.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50 day moving average is $137.38 and its 200-day moving average is $130.39.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The restaurant operator reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 22.57% and a negative return on equity of 17.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. Research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 21st were paid a $0.67 dividend. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 20th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $146.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $145.00 to $141.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Yum! Brands from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.00.

Yum! Brands Profile

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.