BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Sells 177,646 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lessened its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 52.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 158,921 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 177,646 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $22,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 957.1% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 3,088.9% in the second quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 287 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizons Wealth Management purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:YUM opened at $135.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $37.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.70 and a 12 month high of $143.20. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $134.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.50.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is 50.09%.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total transaction of $959,600.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,307,396.90. The trade was a 4.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 21,069 shares of company stock valued at $2,842,965 in the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the topic of several research reports. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.94.

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.