KBC Group NV Sells 57,695 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

KBC Group NV trimmed its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) by 26.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 161,134 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 57,695 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $21,618,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of YUM. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 957.1% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 222 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands during the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Yum! Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 3,815 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.06, for a total transaction of $522,883.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,474,708.10. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE YUM opened at $129.15 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $132.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.60. The stock has a market cap of $36.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.11. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 21.13% and a negative return on equity of 18.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on YUM. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Argus upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 target price (down from $158.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $141.00 price objective (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their target price on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.89.

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.