Cantillon Capital Management LLC Acquires 51,690 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 3.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,428,040 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,690 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $199,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 957.1% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Yum! Brands by 43.6% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 270 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 3,088.9% during the second quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on YUM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Redburn Atlantic lowered Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.94.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.43, for a total value of $941,682.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,518,588.62. The trade was a 4.39 % 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 hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 21,069 shares of company stock valued at $2,842,965 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.3 %

Yum! Brands stock opened at $134.01 on Tuesday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.70 and a 12-month high of $143.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $134.44 and a 200 day moving average of $134.53.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

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.