Howland Capital Management LLC Sells 102,263 Shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Key Points

• Howland Capital Management LLC sold 102,263 shares of Yum! Brands, reducing its stake by 95.6% to 4,716 shares, valued at $742,000.
• Several institutional investors increased their positions in Yum! Brands, with GAMMA Investing LLC growing its stake by an impressive 14,795.6%, now owning 769,805 shares worth $121.1 million.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Yum! Brands, with a consensus target price of $159.86 and ratings varying from "hold" to "overweight."

Howland Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 95.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,716 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 102,263 shares during the quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $742,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in YUM. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 14,795.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 769,805 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $121,137,000 after acquiring an additional 764,637 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Yum! Brands by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,545,872 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $475,714,000 after acquiring an additional 601,361 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $43,944,000. Man Group plc grew its position in Yum! Brands by 602.1% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 364,836 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $48,946,000 after buying an additional 312,871 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Yum! Brands by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,195,586 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $160,400,000 after buying an additional 273,547 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on YUM. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $163.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $159.86.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Yum! Brands stock opened at $145.41 on Friday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $163.30. The company has a market cap of $40.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.97, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.73. The company's 50-day moving average price is $145.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $146.26.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.01. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.42% and a negative return on equity of 20.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,117 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.60, for a total value of $1,043,352.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 102,893 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,084,113.80. This trade represents a 6.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 272 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.28, for a total transaction of $40,332.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $260,231.40. This represents a 13.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,720 shares of company stock worth $2,150,965 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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