Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 674,875 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 21,839 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.24% of Yum! Brands worth $106,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,861 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,055,000 after buying an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,512 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,008,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Yum! Brands during the fourth quarter worth $14,403,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Yum! Brands in the 4th quarter worth $1,151,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 63,491 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $8,518,000 after purchasing an additional 8,113 shares in the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of YUM opened at $148.51 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $41.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.58, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.74. The stock's 50 day moving average is $145.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.63. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.13 and a 12 month high of $163.30.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The restaurant operator reported $1.30 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. Yum! Brands had a net margin of 18.42% and a negative return on equity of 20.80%. The firm's revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. Yum! Brands's payout ratio is currently 56.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

YUM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Yum! Brands from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $167.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Barclays upped their target price on Yum! Brands from $163.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Yum! Brands from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $185.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Yum! Brands from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $157.86.

Insider Transactions at Yum! Brands

In related news, CEO Scott Mezvinsky sold 268 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.97, for a total transaction of $39,119.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,177.35. The trade was a 13.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,063 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.57, for a total transaction of $1,028,160.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,893 shares in the company, valued at $22,984,484.01. This trade represents a 4.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,470 shares of company stock valued at $1,821,172 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.