Avanza Fonder AB Decreases Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Avanza Fonder AB lowered its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 18.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 17,989 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 4,106 shares during the quarter. Avanza Fonder AB's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $2,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Yum! Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 436.5% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 279 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE YUM traded up $0.37 on Thursday, reaching $143.78. 1,096,395 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,013,414. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $163.30. The company has a 50 day moving average of $145.56 and a 200 day moving average of $143.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.97 billion, a PE ratio of 27.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.74.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.01. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 19.68% and a negative return on equity of 20.33%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 5,139 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.70, for a total transaction of $753,891.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,162,903.10. The trade was a 3.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.97, for a total value of $39,119.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at $256,177.35. The trade was a 13.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,763 shares of company stock valued at $2,637,564 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $185.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $158.00 price target on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $158.24.

Yum! Brands Company 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.