David W. Gibbs Sells 7,005 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Stock

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. 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 directly owns 155,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,955,351.69. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM stock traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $133.94. The company had a trading volume of 699,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,957,763. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $133.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.72. The company has a market capitalization of $37.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.08. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.53 and a 1 year high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.96% and a negative return on equity of 18.90%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. Yum! Brands’s payout ratio is currently 47.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on YUM. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $137.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI cut Yum! Brands from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Yum! Brands

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of YUM. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in Yum! Brands in the first quarter worth approximately $3,415,000. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth approximately $268,000. Syon Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 3,342 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 333,131 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $44,000,000 after purchasing an additional 5,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter worth $1,259,000. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.