Ethic Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Yum! Brands, Inc. $YUM

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. has reduced its stake in Yum! Brands, cutting holdings by 30.3% to 3,969 shares, valued at $631,000.
• The stock has seen mixed analyst ratings, with ten analysts rating it as a Buy and thirteen as a Hold, alongside a consensus target price of $161.23.
• CEO David W. Gibbs and COO Tracy L. Skeans have sold a total of 29,284 shares worth over $4 million in recent transactions, indicating insider selling trends.

Ethic Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 30.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,969 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 1,722 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Yum! Brands in the 1st quarter valued at $2,705,000. Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in Yum! Brands by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 238,444 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $37,214,000 after buying an additional 120,730 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Yum! Brands by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 948,084 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $149,177,000 after buying an additional 3,335 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 5,996 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $944,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in Yum! Brands by 524.7% in the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 39,261 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $6,178,000 after buying an additional 32,976 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $185.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $164.00 target price on Yum! Brands in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Yum! Brands from $158.00 to $156.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $145.00 to $177.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Yum! Brands has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $161.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Yum! Brands

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,106 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.84, for a total value of $1,043,445.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Tracy L. Skeans sold 12,220 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 29,284 shares of company stock worth $4,310,663 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Yum! Brands Stock Down 1.8%

NYSE:YUM opened at $149.2170 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.41 billion, a PE ratio of 29.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.73. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.13 and a 52-week high of $163.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.82.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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