ProShare Advisors LLC Has $5.44 Million Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

ProShare Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 42.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 40,552 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 30,402 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $5,440,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 61,814 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $8,293,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth approximately $553,000. Man Group plc raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 602.1% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 364,836 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $48,946,000 after acquiring an additional 312,871 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 34,637 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,684,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $1,234,000. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $147.74 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $149.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.07 billion, a PE ratio of 28.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.77. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.01. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 20.33% and a net margin of 19.68%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. Yum! Brands’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on YUM shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.70.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,897,573.60. This represents a 29.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 30,604 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.46, for a total value of $4,880,113.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,560,800.16. This represents a 16.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 62,334 shares of company stock valued at $9,734,737. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.