Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) Stake Lessened by Cresset Asset Management LLC

Cresset Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 57.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,308 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 20,656 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its stake in Yum! Brands by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,664 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 15,357 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $2,060,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,605 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $886,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 3,231 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,575 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of YUM traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $146.66. The company had a trading volume of 1,552,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,001,457. The company's 50 day moving average price is $150.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $141.68. The stock has a market cap of $40.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.77. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.13 and a 52 week high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 19.68% and a negative return on equity of 20.33%. The company's revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,139 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.70, for a total value of $753,891.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,162,903.10. The trade was a 3.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Erika Burkhardt sold 597 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.07, for a total transaction of $94,964.79. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 64 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,180.48. This represents a 90.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,271 shares of company stock valued at $8,706,576. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on YUM. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $185.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $156.70.

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.