Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Insider Sells $189,550.53 in Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) insider Erika Burkhardt sold 1,269 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.37, for a total transaction of $189,550.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 64 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,559.68. This trade represents a 95.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock traded down $1.37 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $148.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,543,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,084,357. The company has a market capitalization of $41.13 billion, a PE ratio of 29.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.72. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.13 and a 1 year high of $163.30. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.16.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The restaurant operator reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.12. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in YUM. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 78.0% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth $25,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth $25,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 679.2% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 187 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on YUM shares. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their target price on Yum! Brands from $156.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $177.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Yum! Brands from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $165.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.22.

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.