Alliancebernstein L.P. Has $165.76 Million Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its stake in Yum! Brands by 10.6%, now holding approximately 1,053,400 shares worth around $165.76 million.
• Insider trading activity included CEO David W. Gibbs and COO Tracy L. Skeans selling shares totaling over $3.8 million, reflecting a significant decline in their ownership.
• Yum! Brands reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.44, falling short of estimates and has a current market capitalization of approximately $39.86 billion.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 10.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,053,400 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 125,130 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.38% of Yum! Brands worth $165,763,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,109,219 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $5,367,427,000 after purchasing an additional 483,918 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Yum! Brands by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,045,475 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $274,421,000 after purchasing an additional 258,369 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in Yum! Brands by 1.4% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,954,145 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $307,504,000 after purchasing an additional 27,355 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Yum! Brands by 28.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,940,044 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $305,286,000 after purchasing an additional 430,511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Yum! Brands by 1.4% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,700,298 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $267,559,000 after purchasing an additional 23,008 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Yum! Brands

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,106 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.84, for a total transaction of $1,043,445.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,108,808.12. This represents a 6.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.24, for a total transaction of $1,811,492.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,016 shares of company stock valued at $4,271,543 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Melius initiated coverage on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $177.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $161.23.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

YUM opened at $143.61 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a one year low of $122.13 and a one year high of $163.30. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $146.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.73.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.11% and a negative return on equity of 21.01%. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.35 earnings per share. Yum! Brands's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is 56.02%.

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.

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